Harry Potter and the Council of ArchMages
by Mirengard
Summary: The summer after his fifth year, Harry is sinking deeper and deeper into a depression. However, on his Birthday, Harry gets a surprise that could change his life forever... (First Fic ever, PLEASE READ and REVIEW!) Re-posted, changed all 8 previous cha
1. The Understanding Dursleys

Chapter 1: The Understanding Dursleys

            Harry watched as King's Cross Station slowly faded away into the distance.  Uncle Vernon was yelling and screaming at him about something, but Harry just drowned it out.  Now that he was back with the Dursleys, Harry felt even more depressed than he did moments before.  Before he had been surrounded by friends and (what he considered) family, and he thought that he might be able to get over the guilt that he felt over Cedric's death, but now the guilt and depression was coming back.  It was going to be a long summer.

            Harry's return to #4 Private Drive was not a happy one.  Dudley had been staring at him during the car drive, wondering why Harry wasn't reacting to what Uncle Vernon was saying about Harry and his parents.  Usually Harry would have been yelling and screaming by now.  So of course, it was only logical for Dudley to help out his father. Dudley started to hit Harry and try to get him to react.  As soon as Harry started getting hit, he tried to fight back, but it did no good.  By the time Uncle Vernon pulled into the driveway, Harry had a black eye and a bloody nose, and his ribs were all sore from Dudley pounding on them.  To top it off, Uncle Vernon was now screaming at him.

"DON'T YOU DARE DRIP YOUR UNNATURAL BLOOD ON MY CAR BOY!" yelled Uncle Vernon.  "IF I SEE ONE DROP OF BLOOD, YOU'LL BE SORRY THAT YOU WERE EVER BORN!"

_I'm already sorry that I was born_, thought Harry.  "Yes Uncle Vernon," he replied in a dull, lifeless voice.  As he was pulling his trunk and Hedwig's cage inside, Harry heard Aunt Petunia talking quietly to Uncle Vernon in a surprisingly concerned voice.

"Maybe we should be a bit nicer to the boy Vernon," she was saying in a hushed voice.  "As much as I hate the boy, I remember how terrible the times were when YOU KNOW WHO was around.  If what Dumbledore said was true, the boy has suffered enough."

Harry almost dropped his trunk when he heard this.  He DID drop his trunk when he heard Uncle Vernon's reply.

"Perhaps you are right Petunia," Vernon replied softly.  "IF that old Crackpot was telling the truth, nothing that I could do would be worse than what he went through."  Then…

"Potter what are you doing? Get that abnormal trunk inside the house NOW!" Uncle Vernon growled, but it was a much softer, somehow kinder growl that came out of the mouth of Harry's Uncle.  Harry picked up his trunk and Hedwig's cage, and moved his things up to his room, still thinking about what he had overheard.

_That's strange,_ he thought.  _Aunt Petunia was talking about Voldemort almost as if she were a witch.  How did she know that the wizarding world called him 'YOU KNOW WHO'?  And when did Dumbledore ever write a letter to the DURSLEYS of all people?!?!_

As he was pondering this, Harry slowly began unpacking his trunk.  He quickly put as much school things that he would need to finish his summer homework as he could into the space under the loose floorboards under his bed.  He also took out his wand and pondered how he would be able to keep it around just in case he needed it.  Finally, against his better judgment, he went downstairs to talk to his Aunt and Uncle.  

"Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, I need to ask you something that has to do with my…. abnormality, but I don't want you to get angry." Harry said softly.

"Well out with it boy, I don't have all day," replied Uncle Vernon gruffly.

"I know that you hate anything that has to do with magic," Uncle Vernon winced and glanced around to see if anyone heard. "But I was wondering if I could keep my wand with me this summer."

"ABSOLUTELY NO--" started Uncle Vernon, but Aunt Petunia cut him off.

"Why do you want you wand?" she asked with a frown on her face and a look in her eye that Harry could not quite understand.

"Well, I might as well tell you that I heard you two talking in the driveway," began Harry.  When his aunt nodded for him to continue, he did.  "So I know that the two of you know about the…situation… with Voldemort." When he said the name, Harry was sure that his aunt winced slightly.  "And I just don't feel safe without access to my wand… just in case."  His last words came as a whisper, and he was looking down at the ground as he said them.  "After what happened last year with the Dementors, I think it would be for best if I keep it with me at all times."

After a moment, Aunt Petunia said.  "I'll let you have your wand, but only on ONE condition." At her words, Harry looked up at his Aunt, a stunned expression on his face.  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Uncle Vernon mirrored his expression.  "You must swear to me that you will only use your wand if there is a life on the line, NO OTHER REASON," she stressed.

After a moment's thought, Harry nodded mutely.  As soon as he did, he practically flew upstairs to his room, and locked the door.  He HAD to tell someone about the strange way his aunt and uncle were treating him.  Harry spent the rest of the night writing a letter to Ron about what happened when he got back to #4 Private Drive.

Harry woke up, and looked straight at Hedwig's empty cage.  He sighed.  It had been almost a month since he had wrote Ron, and she STILL hadn't come back.  He was really worried about her, but there was also a nagging feeling in his head that she had finally just left him.  Hedwig had been extremely angry at Harry all during his fifth year because he refused to use her to send letters to Sirius, which was really the only person he Owled when he was at school.  Harry looked at the alarm clock.  IT blinked 11:55 p.m. back at him.  _Wow,_ Harry thought. _I almost got three hour's worth of sleep tonight._  Ever since he came back to Private Drive, Harry had been having nightmares.  Not the nightmares where Harry was spying on Voldemort, no those he could handle.  No these were much worse.  Over and Over again, throughout the night, Harry's mind replayed for him what happened in the Department of Mysteries, but each night it only got worse.  First he saw the night as it truly happened, but each night, Harry began to see other people die, friends, family, everyone that he had every cared about died before his eyes while he was powerless to stop them.  

After the fifth night in a row that Harry had woken up screaming, Harry's Uncle had sound proofed his room, so that the rest of the house could sleep peacefully.  To Harry's astonishment, Uncle Vernon didn't yell at him at all, just told Harry on the fifth day of summer to stay downstairs for the remainder of the day while people moved things around, stripped the walls, and put a sound insulator between Harry's room and the rest of the house.  Harry had been so surprised; he did not notice Aunt Petunia putting equal shares of breakfast down for both him and Dudley, or Dudley's surprised look when this occurred.  Harry sighed as he got up, knowing he would not be able to sleep for the rest of the night.  _At least I've had plenty of time to finish my school work.  I bet not even Hermione is done with everything just yet_.  As he was starting to sit at his desk, 7 owls flew into Harry's room, five of them settling onto his desk, bed, dresser, and Hedwig settled on her perch, and one went zooming around the room.  Harry decided to get this one first.  Grabbing Pig out of the air with the practiced skill of a Seeker, Harry untied the note and package from Ron and threw Pig out the window, who then sped off on his way back to the Burrow.  Ripping open Ron's note, Harry grinned his first grin in over a month.

Harry,

            Sorry that you couldn't come here mate.  And Sorry I didn't send Hedwig right back to you, but I needed her to Owl Bill and Charlie a few things (She's a lot faster than Errol or Hermes) Anyway, You're being treated GOOD by your Aunt and Uncle?  AND THEY LET YOU KEEP YOUR WAND?!?!?!?!  I think that it's finally happened mate, they've finally gone nutters.  Hope you find this useful, what with all your freedom with a wand and all.  As soon as Dumbledore says that you can come over, we're gonna portkey over there, heck with telling the Muggles.  Hope to see you soon.

Ron

Harry, curious now as to what Ron could have sent him, opened the package to find a leather wand holster that he could wear on his arm.  It had a quick draw release on it and everything.  Harry eagerly put the holster on his left arm, so that he could draw it with his right, then turned to the other owls around his room.  The Hogwarts Owl he quickly relieved of its burden, gave it a bit of water, and it was quickly out the window again.  Tossing his unopened Hogwart's letter onto his bed next to a collapsed Errol, he turned to Hedwig, relieved her of her parcel and letter, and quickly opened it when he saw Hermione's neat handwriting.

Dear Harry,

            I hope that you are doing OK with the Muggles.  You WOULD tell us if they were mistreating you wouldn't you?  I know that you can't LEAVE the muggles, but if they WERE mistreating you then I'm sure my parent's or… or Professor Dumbledore would do something.  Anyway, I'm worried that you haven't owled me in over a month, and that Hedwig didn't have any letter from you when she showed up to pick up your birthday present.  I think you'll like them, they are VERY interesting.  Hope to hear from you soon.

Hermione

P.S. RON IS SUCH A PRAT.  He won't shut up about Viktor!  I haven't even HEARD from the boy for a year, and he's still going on about him!  I'm thinking about going to Bulgaria just to spite him!

Harry chuckled at that last part.  Considering that Ron had been the reason for him not having his owl for a month, he was in agreement with Hermione.  He turned his attention to the gift that Hedwig had brought, and opened it to find a book.  _1001 hexes, curses, and charms that you never knew you needed to know by Fighurst the Bold.  Harry grinned again, _OF course Hermione would make SURE to send me a book on my birthday,_ he thought.  He then turned his attention to the package that Errol had brought, which included something from Mrs. Weasley, and Fred and George.  The Twin's gift was wrapped in garish neon green and purple wrapping paper, while Mrs. Weasley hadn't bothered with paper, but sent him all his favorite foods from the Burrow with a note to owl her when he needed more food.  _I'll have to owl her and tell her that the Muggles are actually feeding me now._  Harry opened the letter that the Twins had wrote him, and was surprised that it didn't blow up._

Hey Harry,

            Surprised that the letter didn't blow up aren't you?  We thought that you would like to know a bit more about the company that you invested in, so our gift to you is a small amount of everything that we have come up with so far AND SOME WE HAVEN'T (in another script) And to tell you that you are now a partner of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.  A SILENT PARTNER OF COURSE(again in the other script, which Harry guessed was the other twin.)  Oh as to the other part of the gift, don't tell anyone that we got it for you, cuz mum would have our hides if she knew that we were buying that stuff for under aged wizards.

Gred and Forge

Chief Executive Wizards

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

Harry opened the box and saw a multitude of the twin's creation.  Harry grinned as he thought of all the pranks he would be able to play with this ammunition.  Towards the bottom of the box were a pack of six butterbeers, and a bottle of Odgen's Old Fire Whiskey.  Harry stared at the bottle for a second, before seeing the note attached. It said: _Don't do anything with this that we wouldn't do.  Wink Wink Nudge Nudge.  Owl us if you need any more._  Harry shook his head for a second not believing that the twins would buy him alcohol, but then remembering his nightmares, he thought that he might take them up on their offer.  Pulling out a butterbeer, opening it, and taking a swig, Harry turned to the remaining Owls.  The two that he didn't know, he pulled a package and letter from both Hagrid and the Ministry of Magic, and one from an unknown person.  Finally, Harry pulled a package and letter from Hermes in a script that seemed vaguely familiar, but which he could place.  Opening Hagrid's letter, which was extremely short he felt a bit uncertain about opening his gift, because it had breathing holes.

Harry,

            I came across this beauty when I in France with Grawp, and when I sent her to him, he agreed that it would be ok to send her to you for your birthday.  She should be hatched by now, so and seeing as how you will be the first person to see her, she will bond with you.  Hope you like the gift; tell me what you name her.  

See you at School,

Hagrid

Harry warily opened the box, wondering what type of magical creature Hagrid would send him.  Hagrid was a great friend, but his definition of "beautiful creatures" was a bit… different… from the rest of the Wizarding world.  When He glanced inside, Harry gasped with delight and surprise.  Sitting in the box was what was unmistakably a Phoenix.  She had pure white feathers with gold and silver tail feathers, gold eyes, and silver claws and a gold beak.  As soon as she saw Harry, she trilled in Phoenix song for a second, and then flew up so that they were eye to eye. Then… A weird thing happened.  A beam of pure white light connected her and Harry for a second, then it was gone.  She then flew up and settled comfortably on Harry's shoulder.  What was even more astonishing was that in that flash of light, Harry's depression, guilt, and worries all went away.  He still remembered what happened, but he was no longer trapped by the dark emotions that had plagued him during the month or so since the Third Task.  Harry then opened the letter from the Ministry of Magic, deciding to name his Phoenix after he thought a bit.  

Mr. Potter,

            It is our sad duty to inform you of the death of your Godfather, Sirius Black.  Due to the enormous amounts of evidence, and given your testamony and that of Professor Albus Dumbledore, it has been decided by the Wizengamot that Mr. Black is in fact innocent of all the charges against him, and has been granted clemency post-humosly.  In his will, written before he died and intrusted to Albus Dumbledore, Mr. Black has named you his sole heir.  You are now the owner of the various Black Estates, the family fortunes, and any and all items found within the premises of your new lands.  Professor Dumbledore has agreed to safeguard all contracts and proofs of ownership until you come of age.  I sincerely hope that the news of your new possessions will help you in this trying time.

Sincerely yours,

Cornelious Fudge,

Minister of Magic

Gone were the feelings of relief that Harry's Phoenix had made him feel, and his dark emotions were back in full force.  Above them all, Harry felt an enormous amount of anger.  _How DARE he write to me! _He thought furiously.  _If it weren't for him Sirius would still be alive and NONE of the CRAP I had to put up with last year would have happened!_  As if sensing his thoughts, his new Phoneix trilled in a soothing manner, again banishing the pain, saddness, grief, and anger.

Harry opened the parcel from the unknown person and found a long box.  Harry opened the box, and gasped at what he saw.  Harry pulled out the most beautiful broomstick he had ever seen He didn't even know that there WERE broomsticks better than his Firebolt, but apparently there were.  Looking at the broomstick handle, he saw that it didn't have a name on it.  Frowning, he looked down at the box, saw a piece of paper that had been under the broom, picked it up and began to read.  As he read the note, his eyes began to widen.

Mr. Potter,

            My name is Matilda Stormcloud.  I believe you would know of some of my families other brooms, which include the entire Nimbus Series and the Firebolt, Thunderbolt, and Lighteningbolt series for Seekers, Chasers and beaters, and Keepers respectively.  I am also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, and was a very good friend of one Mr. Sirius Black.  He contacted me some months ago and explained that you were quite a Seeker on a Firebolt, and was wondering if there was a better broom that my family made that he could obtain for you.  At that time, there was not, my family has been making brooms for as long as I can remember, and I myself made every single Firebolt, that is in circulation today.  So when Sirius told me of your love for flying, I told him that I would make a custom broomstick for you if he could obtain your wand measurements and the details of your wand from your wand maker.  This Broomstick has been especially made for you, and I believe that you will find that there is no other like it in the world.  Its top speed cannot be determined because you are the only person in the world that can ride it, but it is estimated to be either three or four times that of the Firebolt.  I must caution you however, since this is way beyond the safe flying speeds for a normal witch or wizard.  That being said, I know that you, Harry, are NOT a normal wizard, and I wish you to have all the fun you can with your new broom.

Sincerely,

Matilda Stormcloud

Maker of Fine Broomsticks

Harry looked at the broomstick in his hands in a large degree of shock.  _Sirius you have gone way too far with this gift_ he thought, the memory of his Godfather bringing tears to his eyes.  Of course, he was not going to complain.  When Harry told the rest of the Quidditch team about this, they would not believe him.  Carefully putting the broom on his bed, Harry opened the last letter, to find that the surprises just kept on coming.  This letter was from Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister.  It was the first letter she had ever sent him.

Dear Harry,

            I know that we don't know each other all that much.  Well not really, we know each other, but we really don't know about each other at all or anything like that.  Anyway, I know we don't know each other but I have been really worried about you.  You have been very distant from everyone ever since the Department of Mysteries.  I'm not talking about during the summer, because I know that Ron "Borrowed" Hedwig from you, stole is more like it.  He can be such an idiot sometimes.  I told him to send you Pidgewidgeon so you could keep in contact but he didn't listen.  He said he HAD to owl Hermione to make sure she wasn't going to Bulgaria.  He really needs to get over himself and ask Hermione out for Merlin's sake!  As I was saying, you have been really distant since the Department of Mysteries and I've been worried about you.  Anyway, I know I've not sent you anything for your birthday or Christmas or anything like that, but I thought you could use a little cheering up, so I decided to send you one this year.  Hope you like it!

Your Friend (I hope)

Ginny

Harry was stunned at the letter.  That was more than she had said to him all the years that he knew her.  He found himself rereading the letter, and smiling at the thoughtfulness and concern that her letter revealed.  _Wow_, he thought, _maybe there's more to Ginny Weasley than just blushing and running away from me after all._  Opening the present he was stunned even more at her insight.  Staring back at him was a picture of Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione in a simple frame that had clearly been made by Ginny.  Since this was a wizarding photo, the picture moved, they were all at Hogwarts and it looked to be Christmas his fifth year.  The picture looked to be taken right BEFORE the Yule Ball.  They were wearing normal clothes, and were all laughing and smiling at something beyond the picture, probably one of the twins' jokes.  Touched, Harry told himself to start learning more about Ginny Weasley and start counting her as one of his group of friends.

Putting his presents away, under his floorboard, or in his trunk, Harry glanced at the clock.  It said 2:00 a.m.  He'd been sixteen for two hours, busy opening presents and not even realizing.

"Actually, you just turned sixteen.  You were born at 2 am on July 31st" Said a voice behind him.  Harry spun around his wand out and pointed in the direction of the voice, his quick movement startling the phoenix on his shoulder into flight for a second, before she settled onto Harry's desk without a sound.  Harry was staring at a man who could only be described as ancient.  He looked to be even older than Dumbledore, and that WAS saying something.  The man had a long beard that reached to the floor, with equally long hair.  Both the hair and beard were as white as snow.  The man's eyes were a startling dark blue, which made them look fathomless.  He was wearing dark blue robes, and carried a staff in his hand.  He also radiated an unfathomable amount of power.  Harry's voice caught in his throat.  _There's no way that I could even think about challenging this guy,_ he thought.

"Well then it is a good thing that I am not here to challenge you isn't it, my boy?" asked the man.

Harry finally found his voice and asked. "Why are you here sir?"

"I am here because you have been Called," replied the man mysteriously.  "I am here to take you before the Council of Arch-mages."  He went on.  And with that simple explanation, he raised his staff and in a flash Harry Potter left #4 Private Drive, never to return there again.


	2. The Council and Letters

Chapter 2:  The Council and Letters

Harry followed the Old Man, and he had deemed him, into the castle that they had been somehow transported to.  His belongings floated, or flew, behind him as the case may be.  When He entered into Council Chamber, Harry gulped his throat suddenly dry.  Sitting in a semi circle all facing him were a group of witches and wizards that all radiated that enormous amount of power that the Old Man seemed to have.  The Old Man took his place in the middle of the semicircle and stared at Harry, who was standing in the middle of the room looking back at the hundred or so witches and wizards sitting before him.

"Well Harry, I know that you are wondering what is going on, so I will tell you.  First of all, I will tell you my name.  I am Merlin, the Founder of the Council of Arch-mages.  You are here, Harry, because we have decided that you are to be included as a member of the Council, and made an Arch-mage.  Before you say anything, let me tell you a bit about us.  This castle is known as Avalon.  You may have heard of it from a few of the tales of Arthur and those rowdy knights that he always surrounded himself with."  Merlin said the last with a  bit of amusement in his voice.  "The truth is that Avalon was MY keep and shortly after I founded the Council, I put a spell on it to take Avalon outside of time and space.  You could say that we are in our own little dimension.  I did this so that as members of the Council were found they would be able to train here, and learn what they need to learn before becoming an Arch-mage, within a reasonable amount of time, instead of spending centuries learning as I have.  When I faked my death in the Wizarding World, I came here to Avalon, as well as all the others that you see before you.  During the next month, (Well month in the Wizarding world) you will get to know all of us here, so I will not make any more introductions.  Also, from now on, when you are not at Hogwarts, until you finish school, you will be staying here, and NOT with that Muggle and Squib couple that call themselves your Uncle and Aunt.  Oh and I would like to also tell you that you are my descendant.  I'm your Great Great Great with an infinite Greats Grandfather.  You are, of course, also the descendant of my Great Great Grandson Godric here."  At this Merlin gestured to the man on his right, who after Harry looked at him for a few seconds, looked like Godric Gryffindor.  

Harry took all of this information in silently.  Finally, he asked, "Do I have a choice in the matter?"

Merlin looked at him for a second then smiled.  "Of course you do.  If you do not want to become an Arch-mage, we will simply erase your memories of us, and send you back to you Muggle Uncle and Squib Aunt."

Considering this, Harry suddenly grinned.  "Where do I sign up?" he asked eagerly.  

At this, everyone in the room laughed lightly at his enthusiasm and looked at Merlin expectantly.  Merlin got up out of his chair and tapped the floor with his staff.  From the floor rose a globe made totally of glass, which was glowing brightly.  "All you must do is touch the Sphere and you will be admitted to the Council," he said.

Staring at the man for a moment, Harry shrugged and put his right hand onto the globe.  Nothing happened for a few seconds and Harry was beginning to wonder if he was being put on, then out of nowhere it happened.

Harry's world exploded around him.

Dear Ron,

            Thanks for the wand holster, it's really cool and it solved a big problem.  Aunt Petunia was going crazy about how my wand stuck out of my pocket and kept telling me to find another place to put it or she would have to make me put it away.  Anyway, I really was annoyed at you for keeping Hedwig as long as you did.  I thought that she was mad and had decided to not come back.  Anyway, I'm actually doing a lot better.  Guess what Hagrid got me for my birthday.  A PHOENIX.  She's beautiful, and I named her Lily after my mom.  Sirius sent me a CUSTOM MADE BROOM.  I can't wait to try it out.  Oh guess what?  I've been made a Prefect!  Dumbledore said that I was already doing the job last year with teaching the D.A, so I might he figured I might as well get the perks that come with it.  He said that since I'm a sixth year prefect, I could chose to have my own prefect room with the other sixth and seventh year prefects!  Who would have thought it could happen, but it did… Dumbledore has gotten even more off his rocker than he was before!  Anyway, you need to lay off Hermione.  She's not really considering going to Bulgaria, but if you continue to nag her, she might just do it to spite you.  You don't want that.  Anyway, Owl me as soon as you can, you'll have to use Hedwig cuz no other Owl is allowed here anymore.  Hope to hear from you soon!

Harry

Dear Hermoine,

            Thank you for the book!  I didn't even know that I needed to know these spells!  HAHA I thought you would like that joke!  Anyway, you should probably give Ron a break.  He's just worried about you. I mean, you ARE a muggle-born witch and who knows what could happen to you in a foreign country at this time with things the way they are.  That being said, I agree that Ron is a Prat.  HE is the reason you haven't heard from me in a month.  He "borrowed" Hedwig and she didn't get back to me for a MONTH.  Anyway, don't worry about me too much, after my birthday things have started looking up for me.  Hagrid somehow got me a Phoenix while out on a mission.  Her Name is Lily after my mom, because she is so beautiful.  Do you know that Ginny sent me a present?  That was really sweet of her. I've decided to get to know her a bit better.  What do you think? 

Harry

P.S. How is your summer going?

Dear Fred and George,

            You guys really don't have to make me a partner in the business, but I appreciate it all the same.  I'll make sure to keep up my end and fund you guys as much as possible, so if you find yourselves in need of more cash, just tell me.  I mean… what else is a Silent Partner good for?  Oh, do me a favour?  Will you get Ron some new dress robes again, I bet he's grown.  DO the same for Ginny as well.  I know that she's probably grown a bit, and needs new ones.  If you need the money for it, I'll supply it for you.  By the way, did you guys think that I needed that extra something in my gift for some reason?  I'm not going to ask why you got it for me but I will say thanks, it has helped a bit.  However, I don't think that I'll need anymore.  See you soon (hopefully)

Harry

Silent Partner

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes 

Dear Ginny,

            You have no idea how much your gift has touched me.  You're right I did need something to cheer me up, and your present is just the thing that I needed.  I definitely count you as a friend, and furthermore, would love it if I could get to know you better.  The magnificent bird that brought you this letter is Lily, my phoenix.  Hagrid gave her to me for my birthday.  Isn't she beautiful?  I told her to go to your room instead of going straight to you, so that you would be the only one to see her.  I sent her instead of Hedwig as thanks for your wonderful gift; I thought you would like the honour of being the first of my friends to see her.  Write back ok?

Your friend,

Harry

Dear Harry,

            I'm really glad that you finally owled me finally.  I think that you getting to know Ginny is a wonderful idea.  I'm glad that you are enjoying your book, but that joke was HORRID.  Also I'll take your advice about Ron under advisement.  HE KEPT HEDWIG FOR AN ENTIRE MONTH?!?!?  I think I might send him a howler about that.  He has NO brains whatsoever.  Anyway, my summer is going good. I've already finished our homework.   I heard that everyone is meeting at Diagon Alley on the August 25th to get all our stuff.  Hope you can come at the same time.  I'll be going to stay the Weasleys final few days at you know where and then I'll be going to King's Cross with them.  Hope you will be there with me.

Miss you,

Hermione

Dear Hermione,

            I know that I've been a bit of a prat but did you REALLY have to send me a Howler?  I mean… I know in hindsight that keeping Hedwig and not sending Harry an owl that he could use was a bad idea, but at the time it seemed like a good idea.  I swear.  Anyway, Harry said that the Muggles were treating him better, isn't that weird?  I think Fred and George are up to something.  They asked to borrow my dress robes, and won't tell me why.  I still haven't gotten them back yet, not that I'm complaining.  Just wondering what they are up to.  I know that I have been a bit over the top when it comes to you going to Bulgaria, but I'm just worried about you 'Mione.  I would hate to lose you, and I don't know if Bulgaria is safe for you.  That being said, whatever you decide, I'll go along with 100%.  

See you soon,

Ron

Dear Hermione,

            SWEET MERLIN!  Harry sent me a letter!  What's more he sent me a letter USING HIS PHOENIX!  He said that he hasn't sent anyone else letters using the phoenix but he said he wanted to thank me for my gift so he sent Lily to me.  She's so beautiful! She's still here, and I don't know if I should send her back or write a letter and send her back.  What do you think?

Ginny

P.S.  I know that I told everyone that I was over him, but that was before the Department of Mysteries.  How CAN he be so dashing and brave like that and STILL be clueless about girls?!?!?  

Dear Ginny, 

            I'm glad that he's finally noticing you.  I'm so jealous!  A Phoenix in your room you could really learn a lot about them just by taking care of it!  OF COURSE you should write him.  Let him see the real you.  Oh and tell your prat of a brother that I'm sorry about the Howler, and I'm not going to Bulgaria.  I'll see you on the 25th.

Hermione

Dear Harry,

            Lily is Beautiful!  Thank you for sending her to me.  I'm glad that my present cheered you up.  That's what it was meant to do!  I'm REALLY glad that you think of me as a friend, I've been worried that I ran you off with all that crazy stuff that I did in the last few years.  My brothers are all up to something.  I'm not sure what, but I'm sure of it.  Fred and George both came in asking for my old dress robes from last year, and then asked me how much I had grown this summer.  I'm really worried that they are going to do something to my clothes.  Oh well, I've outgrown them anyway.  What about you Harry?  Have you grown, or am I finally going to be able to look down at you?  Just Kidding, even if I am taller than you now, I'll still always look up to you.  I mean… how else could I look up to the boy who has saved my life, and that of my father and brother time and time again.  Hope to see you on the 25th at Diagon Alley.

Love,

Ginny

Dear Ginny,

            Do you know you're the first letter I've gotten since I owled you, Ron and Hermione.  I think that they are finally figuring out that they love each other.  I hope that they'll get together soon and save my ears another year of them yelling at each other.  I'm glad you like Lily; she's very dear to me already.  I'm not sure how I'm going to convince him, but I'm going to have to talk Professor Dumbledore into letting me keep Lily with me during the school year.  To answer your unasked question, I'm doing OK.  I'm not fine per say, but I'm doing a lot better now than I was before my birthday.  I don't think you have to worry about Gred and Forge that much.  If they do anything bad to you just let me know and I'll make sure that they regret it.  They gave me a surprising amount of prank stuff for my birthday and I've been amusing myself with learning new ways to conceal them and make them look innocent.  I'll be at Diagon Alley on the 25th and tell your parent's that I'll be going back to the Burrow with you guys as well.  Oh and for your information, I have had a bit of a growth spurt, AND I've found out about a way to mask my magical signature, so I've been able to practice and to all kinds of stuff this summer.  I'll tell you all about it when I get to the Burrow, I promise.  See you soon!

Love, 

Harry

Dear Hermoine,

            OH SWEET MERLIN!!  HE REPLIED TO MY LETTER AND SIGNED IT LOVE HARRY!!!  We've been sending letters back and forth all summer, but this is the first time he didn't sign it 'your friend.'  I'm SO EXCITED!  He's said that he wants to include me into your group!  I can't wait till this weekend!  Just think ALL of us at Diagon Alley! Oh Well See you on Saturday.

Ginny


	3. Diagon Alley

Chapter 3:  Diagon Alley

            Diagon Alley was bustling busily as always as five bright red headed figures made their way towards Gringots, the Wizards Bank.  Ginny was listening to her Older brothers Fred and George joking around about their latest wheeze:  Turning Ron into a Parrot that only said one thing: "I love Hermione."  Ron was still a bit mad about that, but the twins didn't notice.  The twins had taken a day off from running their joke shop to go with their family as the last two Weasleys bought school supplies.  As her Mum went into the bank to get money for their school things, Ginny looked around for any sign of Harry or Hermione.  This was where they were supposed to meet, and she was anxious to see a sign of either of her friends.  As she was looking around, Ginny saw that many witches were all gazing in one direction, their eyes slightly glazed over.  Ginny, overcome with curiosity of what could possibly make THAT many witches look like that, looked in the direction of their gazes and gaped.  Striding straight towards her wearing Muggle clothes was Harry Potter.  However this was NOT the Harry Potter that she remembered.  NO THIS Harry was tall as tall as Bill, but with broad shoulders and the muscular physic of well… almost that of a body builder.  What's more, his normally short messy jet-black hair was now long, to his shoulders, and gathered behind him in a ponytail.  Finally, his brilliant green eyes no longer hid behind glasses, because he was not wearing any.  What was probably the most astonishing thing, however, was the white, sliver, and gold phoenix sitting on his right shoulder, almost as if she had been there her whole life.  By the time Ginny had taken this all in, and felt her heart totally become lost to this boy, no MAN before her, Harry reached the group and grinned.  _Grinning should be outlawed… wait… I WANT him to grin at me, even if it DOES send shivers up my spine… ESPECIALLY if it sends shivers up my spine._

"It's SO good to see you guys, you have no clue how much I've missed you," he said as he enfolded her in tight hug. "You've really grown Ginny, you're gonna have to start fighting the guys off with a stick when we get to Hogwarts."  He said stepping back from her and gazing into her eyes.  Ginny barely noticed Lily nipping her ear affectionately in greetings; she had suddenly lost herself in Harry's eyes.  They glowed with power, and… love? _That can't be right Ginny, you're just imagining things, and Harry doesn't love you,_ she thought to herself.  Then the words that he spoke made her heart burst with joy, and her eyes widen in surprise.

"Why don't you let me decide who I do and do not love, Ginny," Harry spoke softly, so that only she could hear.  She was about to reply when.

"HARRY?!?!" exclaimed Ron.  "IS THAT YOU?!?!?"

  
Harry turned his attention to Ron and grinned.  "Surprised mate?" he laughed.  "I thought that you would be happier to see me than that."

"OH" exclaimed George.

"MY," yelled Fred.

"GOD" they both screamed.

"Harry what have those Muggles been feeding you, and where can I get some?" asked Fred, with a grin on his face.

"Forget using it for yourself, we could make a new wheeze out of that," exclaimed George.  "We could call it 'Bodybuilder Blasts' we'd make a FORTUNE!"

Harry chuckled.  "For your information, I've been working out a lot since I didn't have ANYONE to talk to for a MONTH" Harry said, making Ron look guilty.  "I've also have a bit of a growth spurt, as I told Ginny in my letters."

Now the Weasley's were looking at Ginny and Harry in surprise.  "Letters?  What Letters?" asked Ron, looking a bit angry that his best friend was writing LETTERS to his sister. 

"Well since you and Hermione didn't write to anyone but YOURSELVES this summer, I HAD to talk to someone!" replied Harry, with a twinkle in his eyes, not unlike that of Dumbledore.

"Did someone say something about me?" piped in a new voice, as a very pretty and feminine Hermione stepped up to the group.  "MY GOD, Harry is that YOU??" she exclaimed as she saw him.

Harry grinned. "Yes Hermione it's me, I've grown a bit."

Finally, Ginny found her voice.  "OK I've had a bit too many surprises for today.  I don't want to hear about anything else that's new. NOTHING" she said vehemently.  Harry chuckled, and put an arm around her shoulders, and drew her into another hug, this one witnessed by three astonished Weasley boys, one happy Hermoine, and one EXTATIC Mrs. Weasley who had finally gotten out of Gringots.  "Harry!  Oh dear you HAVE grown.  And finally noticing our young Ginny I see," she said with a twinkle in her eye.

To everyone's surprise, Harry merely grinned back at her and replied:  "Yes I believe I have Mrs. Weasley, and I must beg your forgiveness for not noticing the wonderful person that your daughter is for all this time when she was right in front of me."

At this the three brothers looked as if they were sizing Harry up to see what it would take to beat him up, and not liking the ideas that they were getting, Hermione was looking smugly between Harry and Ginny, Mrs. Weasley's smile had, if anything gotten even bigger. And Ginny… Ginny was looking at Harry in astonishment, and with hope in her eyes. _We'll talk more later,_ Harry's voice said in her mind.  If she had been in any other place, but in Harry's arms, she would have jumped in surprise.  With a mysterious smile on his face, Harry let go for a second, and then took her hand in his.

"Well," he said looking around brightly.  "Shall we go get our things?"

After the initial excitement, everything toned down for a little while.  Everyone was still casting furtive glances in Harry's direction every chance they got, everyone that is except Ginny, who was still trying to reconcile herself to the fact that Harry actually felt the same way towards her that she felt towards him.

_You know, I'll bet my wand that they all think that I'm mad_ Harry thought.

**_*Considering the fact that you don't need a wand to do magic, that's not saying much.*_****  Countered Merlin's voice.******

_You know what I meant, Old Man.  I'm still not sure how much to tell them,_ Harry replied.

***Well my boy you're going to have to tell young Virginia over there at least some of it, since you decided to show off your telepathic abilities to her,*** came Merlin's reply.

Actually I'm planning on telling Ginny as much as I can.  I don't like the idea of keeping things from her.

**_*You might want to keep the fact that you are an Arch-Mage from her.  Even if you DO trust her completely, you're really shouldn't put her in the position of keeping your identity a secret, especially when things start heating up,*_****  Merlin suggested.******

_I agree_ Harry returned, then turned his attention to his Ron and Ginny who were both gaping as Fred and George told them to pick out their choice of dress robes at Madam Malkin's.  

"But… Fred…" protested Ginny.  "How are you guys going to afford TWO new sets of dress robes?"

"Actually," replied George, "we're buying four new sets of dress robes, thanks to our secret partner." This with a grin to Fred and Harry who were both standing close together.

"You never HAVE told us who would be crazy enough to back the two of YOU" Ron broke in, even though he knew perfectly well that Harry was their backer.  "I mean… come on, you can tell US!"

"Sorry Ronnikins," said Fred.  "Our backer left strict instructions telling us that we could not tell ANYONE as to his or her identity.  Not even to our own family."  This was said quite firm.  Then Fred and George took Ron and Hermione took Ginny towards the racks of dress robes.

"Harry, I wanted to thank you for what you did for the twins," said Mrs. Weasley.  

Harry looked at her in surprise.  "You knew it was me?" he asked.

"Of course," came her reply.  "Who else could have given them exactly 1000 galleons between the time we saw them at Hogwarts and when you kids came back to King's Cross.  I just don't know why you don't want Ron and Ginny to know."

"In our fifth year Ron was a bit touchy about the fact that I have more money than he does," replied Harry softly.  "I didn't want him to think that I was trying to give him charity or anything like that.  So I told the twins to buy him dress robes and not tell him they were from me.  I told him last year however, and he didn't seem to mind much.  I was just keeping that from the twins because I didn't know how you or Mr. Weasley would react."

"That's sweet of you dear and of course I understand, but what about Ginny?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Oh well…" replied Harry, as his face flushed a bit.  "I'm planning on telling her everything soon.  I just think it would be better for me to tell her everything at once that's all."

"Very well dear, if that's what you want, then Arthur and I will of course follow your wishes, especially since it's not any of our business.  BUT I believe I WOULD like to know your intentions towards my daughter," said Mrs. Weasley, suddenly piercing Harry with her gaze.

Harry met her gaze with one of his own, and was about to respond when suddenly black robed figures apparated all over the outside of the shop and began firing off curses at everything that moved.  "Harry Potter," came a voice from one of the Death Eaters.  "We know that you are in that shop, come out, or we will start killing your precious mudbloods and mudblood lovers."   To emphasize her point, one Death Eater grabbed a very scared looking young girl that looked to be a first year at Hogwarts by her size, and pointed his wand at her.  Everyone in the shop was surprised as Harry calmly walked outside, despite Hermoine and the Weasleys all pleading with him to stay, and faced the Death Eaters.

"Let the girl go Bellatrix," came Harry's confident voice.  "Unless you're so scared of a sixteen year old that you have to hide behind a first year that is."

As soon as he had walked outside all 20 Death Eater had their wand trained on Harry, but he did not so much a flinch as he looked into the mask of Bellatrix Lestrange, who was holding the terrified girl.  With a snarl, Bellatrix threw the girl aside and raised her wand at Harry, but Harry was no longer there.  As soon as the girl was clear, Harry sprang into action.  His wand was out before any of the Death Eaters could react and shouted out a stunning charm.  "STUPIFY," he yelled, blowing five of them off their feet and out cold by the impact of his powerful spell.  As he was doing that, Harry's Phoenix Lily was swooping down from above and attacking anything with a Wand trained on Harry.  Harry started methodically cursing Death Eater after Death Eater until only Bellatrix remained, stunned as she watched the Boy Who Lived in action.

"Well Potter, it seems that you have been practicing since we last met," sneered Bellatrix, even though Harry could feel the terror coursing through her body at the thought of Harry's wand which was now trained on her.

"The only reason why you are still standing Bellatrix is because I have a message for you take back to your Master," said Harry.  "Tell him that I am warning him here and now.  If he even thinks of attacking my family or friends, I will take their pain out of the ranks of his Death Eaters.  And when I run out of them, I'll take it out of his flesh."

"My master will definitely hear your words Potter," spat out the conscious Death Eater before she apparated away.  As soon as he had gone, several Ministry wizards appeared all around the shop, looking at the carnage in a great degree of shock.

"M-Mr. P-Potter, could y-you please explain what just happened here?" asked the ranking Auror.  "And would you please tell me why you are performing magic outside of school?  This is ground for expulsion you know."

"Don't be stupid Adam," said a gruff voice from the crowd. As he stepped into view, Mad Eye Moody had his wand out and looked as dangerous and disfigured as ever.  "Potter there probably just saved the lives of everyone here.  He's got some moves on him, he does."  

"Moody," spat out the Auror named Adam.  "I take it that this," he gestured around, " is all your doing?"

"Nope," grinned Moody.  "All that was Potter over there."

"WHAT!?!?!?" screamed Adam, "THAT is IMPOSSIBLE!  A Sixteen year old could NOT take out twenty trained adult wizards."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but since the two of you are talking about me, I thought that you should know that I didn't 'take out' twenty adult wizards" broke in Harry.

"See!  I knew that you were lying Mood—"

"I actually only took out these ten.  Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Fred, and George Weasley and Hermione Granger took out those five over there, and Ginny Weasley took out Pettigrew over there, and Lily finished off those three" said Harry as he pointed to all the Death Eaters in turn.  At this, all of the Aurors, including Mad Eye Moody, were staring at him in disbelief.  

"How did you know who hit which Death Eater Potter?" asked Moody.  

"Oh Lily saw the whole thing, and she made sure that I knew which Death Eaters I needed to take care of, and which I didn't have to worry about," replied Harry.

"Lily?" asked one of the Aurors.  "Who is Lily" As he asked this, the Phoenix in question flew back down after checking all of Diagon Alley, and settled on Harry's shoulder.  At the sight of her, all the Aurors looked even more dumbstruck, if that was possible.

"Well, I'd say that you'll be getting the Order of Merlin for this Potter," said Moody with a smile on his face.  "Order of Merlin, First Class, in fact, I'll guarantee it as a member.  We'll be in contact," then turning to the Aurors.  "OK you lot, if I even HEAR that this fiasco has been misfiled with the Ministry, you won't have to worry about Fudge firing you, I will personally hunt down each one of you and feed you to my pet werewolf.  IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"  The last stated as he looked directly at the Auror named Adam.  

"Yes sir," came their weak responses, after a second.  Then they went about their work of gathering up all the unconscious Death Eaters.

"Good," then turning back to Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys, "Molly, you better get your lot back to Headquarters soon.  Go ahead and give me all the Hogwarts' lists and I'll get everything that they need straight away, and bring it by later.  Potter, do you mind if I borrow your Phoenix, Dumbledore needs to know about this immediately."  When Harry nodded, Moody quickly pulled out a quill and parchment scribbled some things down, and tied it to Lily's leg.  "Take this to Albus Dumbledore as soon as possible," he said to the phoenix.  After Lily made sure that everything was OK, she spread her wings, and flew off in the direction of Hogwarts.

"Mr. Moody, I need to ask you a favour," said Harry after Lily had left.

"What can I do for you Potter?" asked Mad Eye.

"I need you to make sure IN PERSON that Peter Pettigrew's capture is not covered up, and that the truth is known about him.  I want him tried for the death of my parents," said Harry firmly.

  
After a second of staring at Harry's face with both of his eyes, Moody nodded silently.  "I'll make sure that Fudge himself does it.  This attack was too public to be hidden, so Fudge will have no choice but to try everyone pulicly," answered Moody.  After that, he silently handed Mrs. Weasley a portkey in the shape of a golf club, and as soon as everyone had grabbed on, they were spinning on their way to the #12 Grummand Place.


	4. Back to Headquarters

Chapter 4: Back to Headquarters

As they were spinning towards the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters, Harry was having a conversation inside his head with the Council.

_I didn't use too much power to take them out, I mean I could have easily killed all of them before anyone had time to react, I don't know what the big deal is, _he was saying.

**_*The Big Deal Harry is the fact that you let a Death Eater see you easily deal with nineteen other men, and don't give me all that blather about you only taking on ten of them.  As you said, you could have killed all of them before they could even react.*_** said Merlin.

_The point Old Man, is that I didn't kill them all_, Harry countered. _As soon as she saw me Bellatrix knew that there was something different about me, so I supplied her with an idea as to how powerful I have become.  I took a risk, but I know that that is nowhere as powerful as Voldemort's power, so I should be fine.  As long as I didn't do something that Voldemort couldn't do I should be fine._

**_*That may be true Harry*_**came a quiet, feminine voice, **_*But it would be better if you restrain from doing anything TOO impressive from here on out.  I mean getting by in classes with ease is one thing, knocking out five Death Eaters with one simple spell is something totally different.*_**

_O.K. Circe, I get the point.  But you really have to tell me this.  What is the point of being an Arch-Mage, with nearly limitless power, knowledge, and experience, when I can't even use said power, knowledge, and experience to protect my family and friends?_ He asked.

**_*We are not arguing with the action of protecting them Harry dear*_** said the soothing voice of Morgana le Fey. **_*We are just asking you to use more caution with your powers next time.  We ARE on your side; we just want to see the look on Voldemort's face when you finally show him your true self.  It should be amusing* _**__

_On that We agree_, thought Harry as he landed in the kitchen of #12 Grummand Place, everyone other than himself and Mrs. Weasley falling down from the impact.  As soon as they got up, everyone was advancing on Harry as if HE were a Death Eater.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?" screamed half a dozen people, most of them Weasleys and all of them with identical expressions of anger and horror mixed together.  "YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!!!!"  Then they began to all talk at once.

"Harry, I've just found out your feelings—" said Ginny.

"Harry, I thought my heart stopped-" said Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.

"Harry why didn't you tell us what you were doing so we could have thumped you good on the-," said Ron, Fred, and George together.

"If all of you would quiet down, and listen for a second, I could explain everything to you," Harry broke in, appearing to the entire world to be as calm as if he had just come in from a stroll around the garden instead of foiling a Death Eater attack.  At his words, everyone quickly became silent sat down and looked at him expectantly.  Harry was saved from explaining anything, however, when Professor Dumbledore Apparated in, right next to Harry in the middle of the kitchen.

"Ah I see that all of you have arrived here safely," said Dumbledore looking around, his signature twinkle in his eyes as he surveyed the group of angry and scared faces around him.  Then his eyes fell on Harry and he suddenly looked serious.  "I'm sorry to say, but before Mr. Potter tells any of you anything I have a few things that I must talk to him about."  At that he waited a moment, and since no one seemed to be moving he added, "Alone," firmly.  When no one STILL moved from where they were sitting, he looked at Harry, a bit worried, and Harry shrugged, and motioned the old wizard into the hallway.

After casting a quick silencing charm around them both so that no one could hear what he and Dumbledore were discussing, Harry asked, "What did you want to talk to me about Professor?"

For a moment, Dumbledore was silent, surveying the changes that had come over Harry in the past two months, then.  "I wanted to ask you if you had anything to tell me Harry," said Dumbledore, and for a few moments, Harry felt as if he were in his second year all over again.  Again, Harry answered, "No sir."  But then he went on.  "I know that I have changed a bit, and that my magical abilities have grown.  But besides that I don't have anything that I know of that you need to know."  _As of yet_ he added to himself.

Dumbledore looked at Harry for a moment, and then said, "Ok then, well let's go back into the living room and talk with the rest of the group."  After he had broken the charm, Harry and Dumbledore went back into the kitchen where everyone seemed to have come out of their surprised stupor and were actually looking O.K.  As soon as they saw Harry and Professor Dumbledore, however, they looked at Harry expectantly.  Harry noticed this, sighed, and began his explanation.

"As you know, Sirius Black, the escaped convict who everyone thought was trying to kill me two years ago is my Godfather," he said.  "I know I don't have to repeat it, but I will anyway.  Sirius was innocent of all the crimes that he supposedly committed, and the real culprit was Peter Pettigrew, the man that Sirius supposedly killed.  Again as some of you know, but others of you do not, Pettigrew lived in the Burrow for thirteen years disguised as Scabbers." Here Fred, George, and Ginny gasped in surprise.  "Pettigrew was the Death Eater who captured me last year and performed the ceremony that brought Voldemort back to life.  So as you might imagine, I have a bit of a grudge when it comes to him.  When all the Death Eaters apparated into Diagon Alley today, I had two reasons for going out there: One, I knew that if I didn't, people would die, and Two I knew that Pettigrew was out there, and I wanted to capture him.  Oh and I did not want any of you to get hurt," he added softly at the end.

"But Harry, you still could have been killed," said Ginny, almost sobbing at the thought.

Harry looked at Ginny and smiled softly at her.  "I am quite sure that they all had orders to subdue me and not kill me from their Master," he said to her.

"But it was still a bit of a risk, wasn't it?" asked Ron.

"It was a risk I was willing to take," replied Harry firmly, still looking at Ginny.  "I knew that all of you would help out, and I was confident that I could take out at least a few of them.  I just wanted all of them to focus on me, so that the Ministry could take them by surprise.  I really didn't intend for us to all take them out by ourselves, it came as a bit of a surprise how powerful I've become in these past few months," Harry lied smoothly.

"Yeah, I bet you surprised the Death Eaters more though," said Fred with a grin.

"Yeah I wish I could have seen Bellatrix's face when you stunned those five Death Eaters with one stunner," added George.

"You know what this means don't you Harry?" Ginny asked, and mischievous expression now on her face.

"No, what does it mean Gin?" Harry asked, even though his eyes spoke differently, they were alight with mischief as well.

"This means that you could easily handle all my brothers at the same time, and probably take care of them all with one spell," replied Ginny with an impish grin on her face.  "Now you don't have any excuse to hide behind"

"Excuse, excuse for what Gin?" asked Harry feigning confusion.

"Why snogging me senseless of course," answered Ginny a grin on her face.  And with those words as warning, Ginny jumped up, grabbed Harry's head and pulled him down into a long, deep kiss.  Everyone, well everyone except for Dumbledore who just looked highly amused, was so stunned that no one knew what to say or do, and by the time they had regained enough control of themselves to do anything, Ginny and Harry had broken apart, breathless.  _Wow_ they both thought at the same time.  _That was a… a.. a.. bit of something, wasn't it?_

Mrs. Weasley was the first to find her voice.  "Oh dear, Ginny, Harry dear, I am overjoyed that the two of you have decided to start a relationship, but don't you think you're moving a bit… well a bit fast?"

Amusingly enough it was Dumbledore who came to the two teenager's defence.  "Come now Molly, I remember when you and Arthur first got together, I believe that these two have known each other for, what four or five years now, you and Arthur both just introduced yourselves, and you were kissing!  Just like that!  You can't blame the girl, after all, she has been waiting for that kiss for a good long while now, hasn't she?"

While all her children were trying to digest this new bit of information and Mrs. Weasley was busy blushing, Harry, still not quite out of the daze that Ginny's kiss had put him in put in, "she's not the only one who's been waiting for that kiss."  

At this statement, several things happened.  Ginny blushed from head to toe an amazing shade of red, while Harry, seeing this just thought that she really looked fetching in that colour and wondered how to best get her into that colour more often.  Fred, George, and Ron all raised their wands at Harry, and shouted out curses, Hermoine bit her lip, and Dumbledore's twinkle went into overdrive.  A second later nothing had changed, except Fred, George, and Ron were now lying on the ground, unconscious, and then Harry flushed red.

"I probably should have warned them that before I walked outside, I put an extremely strong shielding charm on myself, and haven't had the chance to take it off yet," he said, as he waved his wand at them and said, "Enervate."  As soon as he said this they all got up, looked at Harry for a second then at themselves.  

They collectively moaned.

"Harry's the worst boyfriend that Ginny could possibly get," said Ron after a second.  As he saw Harry's hurt expression, he added, "We can't even hex him if he tries to do anything with our baby sister."

At this Ginny, still blushing, said, "Ron, you don't have to worry, Harry's not going to do anything with me that I don't want him to do.  He's too much of a gentleman for that."

Ron muttered something that sounded like, "That's what I'm afraid of."

Finally, Mrs. Weasley ended the semi-argument with: "Enough boys, I trust Harry as well, and I couldn't think of a finer boy for Ginny to get involved with."  Then to Dumbledore, "Albus, Alastor Moody said that he would be coming over, I thought to invite him to dinner with us, would you like to stay as well?"

"I would love to Molly, I have some things that I must talk to Arthur about, and tonight would be the perfect time.  Oh and Harry I thought that you and every one would like to know that You will be receiving the Order of Merlin First Class at Hogwarts at the Start of Term Feast for capturing nineteen death eaters.  In addition, the rest of you will be receiving the Order of Merlin Third Class for assisting him.  Miss Weasley, you are the exception to this."  When he saw that Harry was about to protest, he held up his hand to silence the young wizard and continued.  "For your capture of Peter Pettigrew you, Miss Weasley, will be earning the Order of Merlin Second Class.  You are all also going to be made Honorary Members of the Dark Force Defence League, and those of you not of age," at this Dumbledore looked at Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione, "will be receiving special vouchers from the Ministry to waive the age restriction on performing magic.  From now on, the Ministry will treat you four as adult witches and wizards.  And in light of all of this, I believe that I will be awarding Miss Weasley, Prefect status for the coming year."  With these words, Dumbledore reached into his pocket, and pulled out a gleaming Prefect badge, and handed it to Ginny.  "Miss Weasley, I know that you did not receive a badge, but I believe that you will be a wonderful addition to the school prefects, especially since you are the top witch of your year," Dumbledore informed her with a smile on his weathered face.

Mrs. Weasley was gazing at the group of young witches and wizards with a look pride on her face.  Harry, when he heard that Ginny was to be a prefect along with the rest of them, quickly gathered her in a tight hug, which she readily returned.  Ron and Hermione, both of whom had probably had one too many surprises for the day, and could not think straight, both looked from one face to another, finally rested on each other's face, and drew each other into a long, passionate kiss.  Finally, Fred and George had looks of utter and complete horror on their faces, and after everyone had settled down and had a chance to look at them, they all burst out laughing.  After a few moments of this, Fred and George looked at their expressions, which were the exact same, and began laughing as well.  Overall, the mood at the #12 Grummand Place was extremely light and happy when Mr. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and Mad Eye Moody all apparated in together carrying all the students Hogwarts belongings between them.

Dinner was a loud and joyous affair.  Everyone, even Mad Eye Moody, seemed to enjoy it.  When Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie had been fully informed of the day's surprises, they took it quite well.  Bill and Charlie had grinned at Harry when they found out about their little sister's suitor, and Mr. Weasley beamed at the young couple and merely restated the fact that he and his wife were very happy for them.  When the story came to the point of Lily, however, Harry asked Dumbledore where she was.

"Ah, yes, well you see I took the liberty of borrowing her Harry," answered Dumbledore.  "Fawkes is delivering a message to one of my other agents, and I sent her to Remus to tell him to meet us here tomorrow morning so that we can all go to the Death Eater's trials together.  I thought he would want to be at Peter's trial, since he IS the last of the Marauders would have asked you, but I needed to send her as soon as possible and there was no way I could ask you in time.  I hope you don't mind." 

"No I don't mind at all Professor," replied Harry.  "I didn't know that they trials were tomorrow."

"There was no other time for them to be," said Mr. Weasley.  "All of you have to give your testimonies at the trials, and since school starts in a week, it was decided that the sooner they were started, the sooner they could be finished."

Here Moody broke in and said, "And you lot don't have to worry about those Death Eaters being set free or anything like that.  I've got all of my Auror contacts who are on our side guarding them."

"Our side?" asked Hermione.  "What do you mean by 'Our side'?"

"Well Miss Granger, as you know Minister Fudge did not believe us for a very long time about Voldemort's return." At her nod, Dumbledore continued.  "Well we have been getting together as many witches and wizards as we can who we know we can trust, and who would not side with the Dark Lord how that he has returned, and putting them in the key positions in the Ministry so that we can better oppose him when he makes his move, as he did today.  You might not have noticed, but Alastor here was following all of you today in Diagon Alley, so that he would be on hand to offer his aid if he were needed."  At this Dumbledore smiled, "Of course everyone here knows that Alastor was NOT needed, but since he was the ranking Auror on the scene at the time, he was able to have our supporters in the Dark Force Defence League secure the captured Death Eaters."

After that, the dinner conversations turned to lighter subjects, like the fact that not only one, but also two new couples sat at the dinner table.  Since they were unable to tease Harry and Ginny (the twins didn't know how this new and improved Harry would react, and they were as always terrified of Ginny's temper) they started teasing Ron and Hermione, making both extremely red, before Mrs. Weasley told them to quit.  Towards the end of the dinner, Dumbledore informed everyone that they were to be in dress robes tomorrow which made all the boys groan, and the girls look a bit panicked.  

"B-But we don't have dress robes that fit!" exclaimed Ginny, her eyes filling with horror.  "The death eaters attacked before we could pick them out!?!?!"

"Did you by any chance buy any of the young ones Dress Robes Alastor?  Arthur?" asked Dumbledore.  When both shook their heads no, both girls looked like they were going to start having fits, and the Weasley boys were all starting to look uncomfortable as well.

Then, unexpectedly, Harry said, "Don't worry about dress robes, any of you.  I'll take care of it before tomorrow."  At everyone's dubious looks, he grinned in challenge and asked, "What? Don't you trust me?  When everyone comes downstairs tomorrow, they will each have a package, which will have a perfect set of dress robes.  If I'm lying, I'll let all six of the Weasley boys hex me for the rest of the day without using any shield charm, and without retaliation."  At this, all six boys were quick to agree, much to Harry's amusement, while Ginny looked extremely worried and grabbed his arm tightly, as if afraid that if she let go, he would disappear.  

After a few moments of staring into Harry's eyes, Dumbledore nodded and said, "I believe that we can all agree that Harry has our best interests at heart.  I for one believe him."  At this, the rest of the group agreed, then Dumbledore had another thought.  "Harry, Remus probably won't be able to get any dress robes before tomorrow; do you think you can handle his as well?"  When Harry nodded, Dumbledore nodded in understanding, got up and bid everyone good evening.  As he was Disapperating away, Harry heard him think, _Astonishing, for some reason I believe him, even though I know that it would be impossible for him to obtain that many dress robes before tomorrow morning, especially considering the lateness of the hour.  And yet I still believe that he will be able to keep his word._

After Dumbledore left, Mad Eye Moody soon left as well, and everyone went into the den.  Harry and Ginny quickly took possession of a comfortable chair near the fire, and started talking quietly.  Even though both loved each other deeply, there was still a lot that they did not know about each other.  Harry told Ginny everything he could about what had happened in his first four years at Hogwarts, including all the details of his, Ron's and Hermione's adventures during their third year, and what truly happened during the Third Task of the TriWizard tournament last year.  He knew that she had already read the article from last year, but he still wanted to tell her himself.  He also talked to her about Sirius.  It was the first time he had talked about his Godfather since his conversation with Dumbledore.  Surprisingly he felt better talking to someone about what had happened, and as he poured out his soul to the petite redhead sitting on his lap, he only felt himself getting closer to her.  Ginny, in turn, told Harry about her first three years at Hogwarts, telling HIM the truth about her first year not withholding any details.  When Harry found out that Ginny hardly had any friends due to what happened with Tom Riddle's Diary, he angrily declared that all the Hogwarts students who held her responsible for what happened were idiots.  Harry learned that one of the reasons Ginny had such good grades was because she had had nothing better to do except study during the school years, due to her lack of friends.  He was also delighted to find out that Ginny had a passion for Quidditch.  When she reiterated her hope to become a Chaser on the team, Harry had laughed and agreed that she would make a superb Chaser.  She HAD chased HIM for four years after all.  

When Mrs. Weasley came into the room to tell them that it was time to go to bed, she found them both stretched out on the couch in each other's arms, asleep.  Not wanting to wake them, she quietly transfigured Harry's shirt and pants into pajamas, and Ginny's robes into a nightdress.  She then put a blanket over them both, kissed both goodnight, and with a wave of her wand, put out all the candles and the fire, and went to her own room.


	5. The Trials

Chapter 5: The Trials

As he slept, the Council of Arch-mages were busy making dress robes for each person in the Weasley's household and Remus.  When Harry woke up, he was surprised to find that it was morning, and that there was something soft and warm snuggling close to him on the couch.  Remembering the day and night before, Harry smiled down at Ginny, who was still asleep.  Not wanting to wake her, Harry decided to find out how everything was going with the Council.

_Good Morning!  How is everyone doing on this perfect day? _He asked.

**_*You better be glad that we are happy enough for you finding you soul mate to overlook this Potter*_** growled Circe.  _***We spent all night making YOUR dress robes for you, since SOMEONE forgot to do them.***_

_Oops?_

**_*OOPS?!?! THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY?!?!*_** exclaimed Artemis, who was usually quite calm.

Sorry! OK?  I'm sorry, but after all that happened yesterday and all Ginny and I talked about, it slipped my mind.

_***Yes, we gathered that, instead you had a certain redhed who you slept with all night with on your mind didn't you?***_ teased Godric.

_Grandfather!  I… well… yeah…_ Harry admitted.  _But you really can't blame me can you?  I mean… Rowena is a redhead, and I remember all those stories Salazar and Helga told me about how you forgot-_

**_*Yes well we can forgive you this little slip*_** broke in Godric quickly.  **_*Just don't let it happen again*_**

_If you say so_ returned an extremely amused Harry. _How do you want me to get the robes here?  Should I travel to Avalon and get them, or will you send them here?_

**_*We've already sent them, they're all on the kitchen table, nicely packaged, and labelled.*_** answered Morgana.  **_*By the way Harry, I'm guessing that your entire line fell for redheads ever since Merlin and I married a couple thousand years ago.  I am also a redhead if you remember.* _**

Yeah, I remember.  I was wondering about that… You and Merlin are married, but everyone remembers you as an evil witch, why is that?

**_*Well, my boy, that's because my lovely wife and I had a few extremely terrible squabbles over the years, she has quite a temper*_**replied Merlin.

_Ahh… Right… Do me a favour Old Man?   Make sure that I never get on Ginny's bad side?_ He asked.

**_*That's probably wise Harry, Oh by the way she looks to be waking up*_**

Harry of course was perfectly aware that Ginny was waking up since she was shifting slightly, and then cuddling closer to him.  After a few seconds of this, she suddenly stiffened then looked up at Harry to see him smiling down at her.  She smiled as well, reached up and pulled Harry's head down for a good morning kiss.

"Sleep well?" she asked softly, so as not to awaken anyone else.

"Yeah," Harry answered, then "Best sleep I've had in months."

"Talking about that Harry, you need to talk to someone about your nightmares," Ginny informed him worriedly.

Harry sighed, and then informed her, "I am going to tell Dumbledore soon, I promise."  When he said this, Ginny nodded, and leaned in for another kiss.

After a while of becoming better acquainted with each other, Harry and Ginny got up off the couch, surprised that they were not sore at all.  They both went to the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley making breakfast for the family.  When she saw the young couple, she smile and said, "I was going to wake you two up, but you were so peaceful that I decided to just let you sleep.  Harry dear, How did you get all these robes, even Arthur and I have a set?"

Harry grinned mischievously and cryptically answered, "I have my ways."

After everyone had gotten up, and the robes were handed out (Remus had come in as everyone was sitting down for breakfast) everyone ate breakfast, then went to their rooms to put on their new Dress robes, Remus went to Ron's room with Harry and Ron to get ready.

When they opened the packages everyone's eyes widened in surprise, and their jaws dropped.  Everyone that is, but Harry.  Harry was used to the opulent display before him, having lived in Avalon for what seemed to have been a month, even though it had been a lot longer for Harry, and had seen the types of clothing that the Council wore many times.

Ron's dress robes were dark blue velvet, the colour of his eyes, and had gold embroidery of Gryffindor lions at the collar and cuffs of the sleeves.  Included was a wizard's hat with Golden lions stitched around the base, and new knee length leather boots.

Remus' dress robes were midnight black with silver stitching around the collar and cuffs.  Included were new knee length leather boots, and a walking cane made of ebony with a sliver top.  Also included for was a silver necklaces of a Phoenix in flight.  He seemed more surprised at this than anything else.

Harry's dress robes were about what he had come to expect from the Council.  They were a dark green, almost black with golden embroidery of Lions and Phoenixes alternating around the collar and cuffs of the sleeves.  In addition, Harry's dress robes were a different style than everyone else's, having pants, a tunic, an under robe and an over robe as well.  He also owned a new pair of knee length boots, as well as a necklace of a phoenix of pure gold with glowing red rubies for eyes.  Also included in his package was a golden signet ring with the seal of the Gryffindor/Potter family on it.

Once all of them were dressed, they all took stock of themselves before going downstairs.  Overall they all looked rather dashing.  Remus looked dignified instead of scary in their midnight and silver dress robes, and Ron looked extremely handsome in his blue and gold dress robes.  Harry, to everyone else, seemed to have an aura of strength and surety while in his new robes.  The pants, tunic and under robe were seen under his over robe which hung open, since it had no clasp.  Behind him, was a large, Celtic type hood, which took the place of a wizard's hat.  Everyone noticed the ring on his right hand, but did not comment on it, even though they wanted to know what the seal was.

When they went downstairs they were all in for even more surprises.  Bill Charlie were wearing robes the same colour and style as Ron's, except Charlie had dragons on his, and Bill, for whatever reason, had what seemed to be fire on his.  Both Bill and Charlie wore gleaming gold chains of a Phoenix in flight as well, although Harry noticed, not as finely made as his own.  The twin's robes were a darker shade of blue with golden WWWs stitched around their robes.  Instead of having chains, each had a golden signet ring on his finger that said WWW and under it Weasley Wizard Wheezes on it.  Mr. Weasley looked extremely dignified in his blue and gold robes with chequered golden stitches at the collar and the cuffs.  Like Remus, he also carried a walking cane, except his was made of mahogany and had a golden top on it.  Around his neck was a golden phoenix in flight on a chain like the others. Mrs. Weasley was wearing dark red dress robes made of silk.  Her robes were skin tight on the torso and flared out at the hips, to fall gracefully to her feet.  The arms of her robes were also skin tight to the elbow and then flared out as well to a length that made them slightly above the ground when Mrs. Weasley's arms were at he sides.  Around her neck was a delicate necklace with an even more delicate phoenix pendant on it.  Around her arms was a golden shawl that seemed to be made out of liquid instead of any type of fabric.  Hermione was wearing peacock blue robes of the same style without the shawl.  She also wore a delicate golden necklace with sapphires on it.  In her ears were sapphire earrings as well, and her hair fell in soft ringlets around her, instead of her normal bushy hair.  However, Harry only noticed all of this in passing, because his eyes were on Ginny.

Ginny was wearing silk robes the colour of gold.  The entire top half of her robes seemed to be a second skin for her, giving a new meaning to the phrase skintight.  When they reached her hips, they flared out as like the other women's robes and fell gracefully to her feet.  Whoever had designed Harry's robes obviously did the same for Ginny as well.  She too had an over robe, which was a sleeveless and the same colour gold as her under robes were.  It was also transparent, leaving nothing of Ginny's charms hidden.  Around Ginny's neck was a delicate, golden necklace with several rubies the colour of her hair, which was hanging loose behind her.  On ring finger, Ginny wore a golden ring with a gleaming ruby that seemed to glow with an inner fire, and on which was inscribed _My Promise to You around the front of the ring, and on the inside of the ring was inscribed __With all my love, Harry.  How Harry knew this, he did not know, but he somehow he knew about that ring.  Ginny also had ruby earrings twinkling on her ears.  All in all, this was the most beautiful Harry had ever seen Ginny, and he was dumbstruck as to how to approach this beautiful goddess in front of him.  _Whoever made those robes has my undying thanks._  Harry informed the Council.  He heard a chuckle in response and then whispered acknowledgements, but he barely noticed it, as he was too busy staring at Ginny.  Finally, however, Mrs. Weasley was able to get his attention._

"Harry dear, not that we don't appreciate the gesture, but these robes that you've bought for us are… well they're too expensive.  They must have cost you a fortune!"

"Mrs. Weasley," replied Harry, looking into her eyes with an extremely serious expression on his face.  "Unless you have forgotten, I own a fortune," he said bluntly.  Before anyone could say anything, he went on.  "And it is my decision who I should or shouldn't use it on."  He looked around at everyone gathered there.  "All of you here are my family, and if I can't use my fortune to buy my family the best, then what use does it have?  This is probably going to be one of the most important days in my life, the my parent's betrayer is brought to justice, and I decided that I wanted to share the uniqueness and meaning of this day with my family"  At his words, everyone seemed to tear up, even the twins, and everyone nodded.  Ginny took Harry's hand in hers, and when he looked to her smiled a bright, happy smile at him.  He grinned back at her.  Their budding conversation was cut short, however, with Dumbledore's arrival.  His eyes widened when he saw the opulent display that they all made, especially Harry and Ginny, but he did not comment.  He merely told them to grab onto the portkey that he had brought, a large muggle plate.  As soon as everyone was touching the portkey, it activated, and they were all spinning on their way to wherever the trials were being held.  As he was travelling, the Council of Arch-mages were instructing Harry on what he should and should not disclose at the trial.

_***Go ahead and tell them the truth about your first four school years at Hogwarts Harry, but don't let them know that you are aware that you are my Heir,***_ Godric was telling him.  _***And also do NOT disclose the fact that you are Rowena's heir as well.  Not many people knew about us getting married, or our family.  For this reason and this reason alone the Potters have been kept safe until now, and I am quite sure that you will agree with me when I tell you that I want my family to be safe for all time.* **_

When Harry agreed, Merlin took over_.  ***Also you will probably be asked about why you were able to do magic without the Ministry being able to detect it.  Go ahead and tell them about that silly little Charm that book gave you, and tell them that you looked it up before leaving Hogwarts, just in case you had to use magic to defend yourself during the summer.  Say that you were paranoid after the Dementor's attack last year.***_

**_*Also, feign ignorance as to why you were able to stun that many Death Eaters with one spell, as you did with your friends and family*_**added Morgana quickly, before they materialized in what seemed to be the cross between a court room and a dungeon.  

Sitting in the Judge's chair was none other than Cornelius Fudge.  The witches and wizards that made up the jury were people who Harry had never met, but Dumbledore seemed pleased with their identities, so Harry did not worry about that too much.  Harry quickly told Ron and Hermione that he planned to disclose to the Ministry the truth about what happened during their first four years at Hogwarts, at their nods of understanding; Harry turned away and put an arm around Ginny, who smiled up at him, and squeezed his hand in unspoken support.  In return, Harry smiled and softly kissed Ginny on the cheek as they were taking their seats.  The trials all started with the questioning of witnesses.  Several people had been in Diagon Alley that day, and everyone gave his or her account of what happened that day.  Most of the people gave fairly accurate accounts, and there were very few exclamations of 'He waved his wand and all of them were blown into nothingness! I swear!'  Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny all gave their testimonies, as well as Mad Eye Moody, who was sitting with a group of Aurors that were at the trials.  Finally, Harry was called up to the stand.

He stood and walked to the witness stand and sat down in the chair.  _Well here goes nothing_ he sent to the Council.

***Don't worry Harry, you'll do fine,*** came Circe's soft encouragement.

"Well Harry, why don't you tell us about the events that led up to the attack in Diagon Alley?" asked Fudge.

With that small outlet Harry was able to speak, and speak he did.  His testimony was a lot longer than everyone else's and incredibly detailed.  He started with his first year, and told the events up until the end of his fifth year at Hogwarts truthfully, not leaving any details out.  When it was heard that He had actually met Sirius Black in his third year, and that he, Ron, and Hermione had helped him escape the Dementor's Kiss, there were gasps of surprise from the court room, who were all hanging onto his words.  When he got to Voldemort's rebirth, those gasps turned into gasps of horrors, and a few shrieks as well.  Finally, Harry talked about the day in Diagon Alley.  This is where he started to lie.  He told the court that his Uncle and Aunt had dropped him off, when in reality; he had actually simply Apparated in that morning.  He talked about meeting up with the Weasleys and Hermoine and going shopping, leaving out the parts about him and Ginny.  Finally, he gave his account of the attack, how he took down ten of the wizards, and how the Weasleys, Hermione, and Lily had taken down the rest.  When he was finished, the courtroom was silent.  He had been talking for a good 2-3 hours, and everyone was digesting all of this information.  Then, Fudge continued with his questions.  He asked Harry how he was able to perform Magic without the Ministry knowing, and how he had been able to stun five Death Eaters with one spell.  Each time he gave the response which the Council had supplied him with, which seemed to please the court.  Finally, he was allowed off the stand, and a cup of water was administered to him.  Since he had been taking for so long, his throat was dry, Harry drank down the liquid, and sat back down sitting between Ginny and Dumbledore.  Ginny took his hand and gave it a squeeze.  Harry put his arm around her, and she leaned a bit on his shoulder as they waited for the Death Eaters to be brought in.

All of them were brought in held, not by Dementors, but by Aurors.  Each one was chained to a chair that had been placed in front of the Minister, and was given veritaserum.  After their questioning, the jury walked out to make their deliberations, and everyone got up to leave.

"It could take them a while to decide on their sentence," explained Dumbledore.  "The court will be in session tomorrow to decide the sentencing, but we can get some things care of right away."  With that, Dumbledore went to Fudge, and talked with him quietly for a few minutes as everyone else looked on.  After they were done, Fudge reached into his robes and handed Dumbledore several documents, which he took and calmly walked back to the group waiting for him.  "Let's take this somewhere private before we discuss anything," he said, nodding to the reporters who were all listening in with rapt attention.  Everyone quickly grabbed onto the portkey, and were all transported back to Headquaters.

After they had returned, everyone sat down in the living room.  Since there were not enough seats for everyone, Harry and Ginny occupied the comfortable seat that they had taken over the past night, while Dumbledore literally drew up three chairs for himself, and Remus.  After everyone had gotten comfortable, he took out the documents that Fudge had given him, and he began speaking.

"Well today has been a very productive day if I do say so myself.  First of all," here he held up a document and handed it to Harry.  "This awards you the various Black fortunes, all the Black holdings, and all of the possessions that the Ministry took away from Sirius when he was imprisoned."  At his words gasps of surprise and delight could be heard around the room.  

Dumbledore turned to Remus.  "Sirius asked me to make you Harry's Guardian in the event of his death Remus," he informed the werewolf, shocking everyone yet again.  "This," he said handing Remus a parchement of his own, "Does just that."

Remus looked from the paper to Harry, his eyes wide.  Harry did the same, looking from the paper to Remus, then he smiled.  "I couldn't think of anyone that I would want to become my Guardian more than you 'Uncle' Remus."  Remus grinned suddenly at Harry's words and reached out and took the parchement.

Dumbledore smiled at Remus who was looking at the parchment with a bittersweet smile on his face at hearing that he was Harry's Guardian.  Dumbledore then handed a document each to Harry, and each of the Weasleys who had been present that day and Hermione.  "As some of you may or may not know, the Order of Merlin comes with a cash reward as well.  Mr. Potter, since you are receiving the Order of Merlin First Class that voucher awards you 100,000,000 galleons and since you already have a considerable amount in your Gringots vault, you have also been awarded a larger vault.  When you go to Gringots next, they will exchange your old key for your new one."  

Turning to the Weasleys, Dumbledore said, "Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger I have a surprise for you," this to Ron and Hermione.  "Since the two of you were instrumental in saving an innocent man from the Dementor's Kiss, you have both been awarded the Order of Merlin Second Class along with Miss Weasley," at this he gestured to Ginny.  "Those vouchers award each of you 10,000,000 galleons, which have been put in newly opened Gringots vaults issued to each of you.  You will be able to get your new keys when you turn in your vouchers next time you go to Gringots."  

Finally, he turned to Mrs. Weasley and the twins.  "Since each of you have been awarded the Order of Merlin Third Class, those vouchers have awarded each of you 5,000,000 galleons into your existing Gringots vaults."

Everyone in the room was silent.  They either reconciled themselves to the fact that they were all now extremely rich, or that they were RELATED to someone who was now extremely rich.  The Weasleys would never have to worry about money every again. Dumbledore took out another set of vouchers and handed them to Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.  Once they all looked back at him, he spoke again.  "These documents waive the age restriction on under age use of magic, which means that you are now able to perform magic year round, like any adult witch or wizard."  This was said with a twinkle in his eye.

For a while no one spoke, but finally Mrs. Weasley broke the silence.  "I never knew that you three had done all of that.  How did you break all those school rules and not get caught?"  At that, everyone started laughing, the tension, or whatever was in the air, finally broken.  After a few seconds, she joined in as well.

It was decided by Mrs. Weasley that everyone would stay for a celebratory dinner, and since no one had anything better to do, Harry suggested that they all go out and play a game of Quidditch.  Dumbledore surprisingly enough was delighted by the idea and produced a true set of Quidditch balls, and an miniature Quidditch stadium, which he promptly made life size in the  back yard.  When everyone gasped in surprise, he merely twinkled at them and informed that this stadium was invisible to all muggles, and had been a gift to him by his brother Aberforth.  Teams were decided to be Ginny, Harry, Fred, and Bill against Hermione, Charlie, George and Ron as a chaser, seeker, beater, and keeper respectively.  Eager to try out his custom made broom, Harry tossed his Firebolt to Charlie with a quick "To make it as even as possible, mate," and quickly jumped off, soaring high into the air.  As he sped around the pitch, he was amazed as to this broom.  

If his Firebolt had responded to his very thoughts, this broom seemed to anticipate them.  He sped around, warming up, and dived and swooped around in a dazzling display of flying that no one, not even Dumbledore had seen or thought possible.  Soon everyone was in the air, and the game started.  Ginny and Hermione both made surprisingly excellent chasers, and both Ron and Bill were hard pressed to stop their goals, which quickly mounted up.  Fred and George were being their normal crazy selves on the brooms and were beating bludgers in complete disorder and at anything that moved.  As this was going on, Charlie and Harry were furiously searching for the snitch, both knowing about the other's reputation for spectacular game wins.  They both saw the snitch at the same time, in the middle of the field, equidistant from both of them.  As one they zoomed towards the snitch, which dived away, and they followed it into a vertical dive.  Harry, whose broom could go a lot faster than what he was going at the time, sped up, desperate to get it, and when he was barely a foot from the ground he caught it and pulled up hard.  When he was vertical, everyone was rushing down and over to him, sure that he had been killed by the move, but his broom had pulled out of the dive with barely a half foot to spare, and was hovering at his side.  Harry, who had gotten off his broom and was lying on the grass, was laughing in uncontrolled delight.  That was until Ginny got to him and found out that he was O.K.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER," she screamed at him, her face pale with fright and uncontrolled rage.  "HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?  MY HEART STOPPED WHEN I SAW YOU LIEING THERE!  IF YOU EVER DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT AGAIN I WILL PERSONALLY –," but they weren't able to find out what Ginny would do because Harry, having been shocked out of his laughter by her had pulled her down on top of him and was kissing her deeply.

"You know what?" asked Ron when he saw this, "If I had know that Ginny's temper could be dealt with so easily, I would have told Harry to snog her silly years ago."  At this, all his brothers sniggered, and Ginny and Harry broke apart, Ginny blushing madly, and Harry with a smug grin on his face.

 "You know Hermione you and Ginny should try out for the team," Harry said.  "You guys are excellent players."  Hermione blushed at his praise, but Ginny beamed up at him and said, "Do you really think so?  I thought about it, but I didn't know if I would be able to make it."

Harry grinned down at her and said, "Well it's really up to McGonagell and the captain who makes the active team.  All of the spots are up for grabs until they make the decision.  Plus, I think that Katie will probably be too busy this year since she's made Head Girl."  

At this statement everyone looked at Harry in surprise, and Dumbledore looked at him sharply before asking, "How do you know that Harry?"

"Well, who else would it be Professor?" asked Harry innocently, even though he had really read it from the man's mind moments before.  "She's a seventh year Gryffindor prefect, and she's got the best marks in her year.  She's the logical choice."  At this statement, Dumbledore seemed to calm down, and Ginny grinned in excitement at the thought of making the house team.

After Dumbledore had put away his Quidditch stadium, all the teenagers, Bill and Charlie sat outside talking about the upcoming school year.  Ron surprised everyone by asking Hermione to any and all formal school functions during the school year, even though they still had a few days of summer vacation left.  Harry, in turn asked Ginny to be his girlfriend, which was a bit humorous due to the fact that she was sitting in his lap at the time, busy twirling the promise ring he had given her on her finger.  She had refused to take it off when they had changed clothes before the game, even when Hermione pointed out that it might get hit by a bludgers and break.  At that, Harry had surprised everyone by pulling out his wand and casting an advanced unbreakable charm on the ring that most students did not learn until their seventh year.  That had ended the debate.  Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione asked Bill about being Prefects, and were delighted to learn that most prefects were just as mischievous and breakers of the rules as anyone else at Hogwarts.  "Percy is the first prefect since the school founded that actually deserved the title," he said, which made everyone break out into laughter.

Everyone enjoyed the dinner as much as everything else, and Dumbledore surprised everyone again by asking Remus to become the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher for the coming year.  After he had agreed, Remus left to take a look at the various Black holdings, and survey what needed to be done so that it was liveable after the school year ended.  "You might as well live in one of them Harry, all of them are as well protected as this dump.  You should choose where in the world you want to live though, they have houses in almost every country…"  Dumbledore also left, reminding the entire Weasley clan to be at the start of term feast for their induction into the Order of Merlin.  


	6. Back to Hogwarts and the Order of Merlin

Chapter 6: Back to Hogwarts and the Order of Merlin

The last few days of summer were wonderful at the Burrow.  Since everyone had to go and get new keys and what not they made another trip to Diagon Alley where they all went to Gringots and took stock of their newly awarded fortunes.  Harry was happy to see the piles of golden galleons in the Weasley's family vault, as well as the larger piles in the Twins, Fred, George, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny's vaults as well.  When they came to Harry's vault, which was even deeper underground than before, everyone was extremely happy, but nothing could have prepared them for the surprise that awaited them.  Harry's vault was stacked full of Galleons.  From Corner to Corner, from floor to ceiling, there was not even any room to move the darned things.  When Harry asked how he was to get money out of his vault, the goblin told him that any gringots goblin would be able to do it without much trouble, but no one else could probably do it. To demonstrate, the Goblin pulled a sack out of his pocket, and filled it with what had to be a thousand Galleons and handed the sack to Harry.  What made Harry feel a bit queasy was the fact that that did not even put a dent in his vault.  Sighing to himself, and resigning himself to the fact that even if he never worked a day in his life he would be totally provided for, and could afford all the luxuries in the wizarding world, Harry took the sack of galleons, and put it in a pocket of his robes.  Then they all left, and went around shopping for any last minute things they needed.  Ginny and, surprisingly, Hermione were both eyeing the Thunderbolt brooms hungrily, and Ron was doing the same for the Lighteningbolt as soon as the entered Quality Quidditch Supplies.  Seeing the looks on their faces, Harry immediately made a decision, called an attendant over, and proceeded to order Ginny and Hermione Thunderbolts along with three extra, and Ron a Lighteningbolt.  At the stunned expressions on all of the Weasley's faces, Harry grinned.

"I want our team to be the absolute best this year," he explained as he pulled out the sack of galleons and put down a 500 galleon down payment on the brooms.  He filled out a form giving his signature and Gringots' vault number so that the amount could be taken to pay the enormous price he was casually shelling out.  "It's not like one or two hundred thousand galleons is going to put a dent in my account or anything, so what's the harm?" he asked innocently.  When he saw that they were about to refuse the brooms, Harry quickly said, "Consider this sixteen years of birthday and Christmas presents that I didn't get the chance to buy any of you.  I mean… don't you guys WANT to see Malfoy's face when he sees our ENTIRE team outfitted with the whole Bolt line up?"  This, of course, won the argument for everyone, even Mr. and Mrs. Weasley who both gave surprisingly impish grins when they thought of what Lucious Malfoy would say to them as well.  The Weasley clan decided to go all the way and bought completely new guards, boots and anything else a Quidditch player needed for the entire team.  

They then all flocked to Madame Malkin's and bought new school robes for everyone, and then went to the Magical Menagerie to reward the new members of the Order of Merlin.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley bought two new identical barn owls for the twins, who immediately named them Gred and Forge, a new screech owl for Ron who he named Rook before Ginny could say anything, and a beautiful jet black have kneezle kitten with beautiful green eyes for Ginny who named her Midnight.  Pig would stay at the Burrow and help Errol out with the mail there.  They also went to Flourish and Blots and returned all their used school books, and bought the group new ones.  No one bought dress robes, since the ones the Council of Arch-mages had made for them were better than anything they could find in a store.  While the Weasleys and Hermoine were in the Magical Menagerie picking out their new pets, Harry stole away to get Ginny a surprise for her birthday on September 21st.  He got back just in time to not be missed, and everyone went to the Leaky Cauldron for dinner before flooing back to the Burrow.

When they arrived at King's Cross, on September the first, the entire Weasley clan along with Harry and Hermione brought a lot of attention to themselves.  To make sure that Lily didn't make a scene, Harry had sent her to Platform 9 ¾ on her own and he took Hedwig with him.  Unfortunately that meant that there were two owls and two cats in their group, which was extremely unusual.  They finally all got across the barrier, and there were hugs all around as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, and the twins all promised to meet the teenagers at Hogwarts before the feast, then they all Apparated away.

Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny all went looking for a compartment.  When they were in the middle of the train, they saw Remus sitting in a compartment, so they quickly joined them.  The new teacher was wearing new robes for once, and looking quite dignified and had a grin on his faces as he saw the four teenagers.

"Excited about tonight?" asked Remus as they all sat down, Hermione and Ron next to Remus and Harry and Ginny across from them.  When they all nodded, Remus went on.  "You should be.  I still remember the night Sirius, James, and I were awarded the Order of Merlin."

"Both of you received the Order of Merlin?" asked Harry, surprised.

Remus grinned at him, nodded and said, "Yeah Sirius, James, and I all received the Order of Merlin First Class for saving some wizard's lives during the first Voldemort uprising.  Lily and the girls were so proud of us then…"

"Girls?" asked Ron with a grin.  "Do tell…"

Remus grinned and said, "But there have been so many…O.K. fine I'll spill.  I was engaged to a beautiful girl who I had known all throughout school.  James wasn't the only lucky Marauder… actually… Peter was the only unlucky one wasn't he?" asked Remus thinking back.  "Sirius was married."

Harry frowned.  "Where are those two girls now?  What happened to them?" he asked.  Feeling a bit annoyed that his Guardian was not happily married yet.

"Well Harry," said Remus.  "You know one of them, The girl I was to Marry.  Sirius and Arabella, who you do not know  were happily married…but… she died soon after your parents," this with an look of saddness on his face that made Ginny and Hermione giggle, and Harry and Ron snort.  "And Matilda and I have restarted our engagement after about a sixteen year break give or take," he said easily.  "You'll love Matilda Harry, she loves Brooms and Quidditch even more than you do," he said with a wink.

Harry, Arch-mage that he was, quickly put two and two together.  "Are you talking about Matilda Stormcloud?  The witch who made my broom, and the entire Bolt line?" he asked.

"The one and the same," replied Remus with a grin.  "You'll meet her tonight; she's coming for the ceremony."

Harry and the others were extremely pleased that Remus had found a woman who loved him so much that she would wait sixteen years to be together with them.  The train ride was extremely pleasant, especially since they had no surprise visit from Malfoy, Crabb and Goyle.  Ginny and Hermione both fell asleep cuddling against their boyfriends who were both still talking to Remus, now of course, they were talking about guy stuff, like Quidditch.  Harry also proposed that Remus re-start the duelling club this year, because Voldemort had returned, and the students needed to learn how to defend themselves.  He agreed to talk to Dumbledore about it as soon as possible.  All too soon they felt the train begin to slow, and all four teenagers quickly changed into their school robes, and left going to a horseless carriage and climbing in.  Soon they were all in Entrance Hall looking for the rest of the Weasleys when they heard a sneering voice behind them.

"Well if it isn't Weasel, the Mudblood, the Scarhead and little Weaselette."

They all turned around and Harry looked down at the pale blond boy calmly and said, "Where's your thugs Malfoy?  Or did we capture them as well as their fathers in Diagon Alley a few days ago?"  

At his words, Draco Malfoy's face coloured slightly, as he gazed up and a now muscular and manly Harry Potter, before spitting out a quick, "Get him!"

At his words Crabb and Goyle finally made their appearance, both coming at Harry from different sides, but Harry was too quick for them.  Quickly stepping between Goyle and Ginny Harry's arm shot out faster than a bullet from a rifle, pushing Goyle with alarming force into Crabb, and the both of them away from Ron and Hermione, a second later Harry's wand was out pointed at the pair trying to untangle themselves from each other, as well as Ginny's wand in his other hand calmly pointed an inch from Draco's face.  When he was sure that neither Malfoy nor his thugs were about to try anything, Harry lowered his wand and handed Ginny hers which she took and pocketed even as she was trying to figure out how Harry had gotten it as fast as he had in the first place.

"Twenty-Five Points from Slytherine EACH, for attacking Prefects in the Entrance Hall." said Harry, making Malfoy's eyes dart to the sliver prefect badges on the all four of them.

Malfoy grinned and pulled out a silver badge of his own and said, "A Slytherine prefect supersedes the authority of a Gryffindor prefect in matters of their own house, Potter.  No points will be take from Slytherine, the two of them merely slipped and fell."

"Wrong Mr. Malfoy," came a voice from the side.  They all turned to see Professor McGonnagall standing in the Entrance hall along with the rest of the Weasley family, Alicia Spinnit, and Angelina Johnson who were all glaring at Draco.  "When a Professor is present, the PROFESSOR'S ruling supersedes prefects, regardless of their house.  I believe Mr. Potter was a being a bit nice to you and Mr. Crabb and Mr. Goyle.  Attacking a house Prefect is an extremely serious matter, and for ANOTHER prefect to egg them on is even worse.  Fifty points will be taken from both Mr. Crabb and Mr. Goyle for the attack of four school prefects, as well as another hundred points from you Mr. Malfoy."  At this pronouncement, Malfoy, Crabb and Goyle looked sick.  "The three of you will also be serving a week of detentions.  Mr. Malfoy, I will be informing Professor Snape of this, and you will be put on probation.  If you step out of line one more time at any time during this year, and ANY student reports it to me, you will lose your prefect's status immediately," finished Professor McGonnagall.  She then turned to Harry.  "Mr. Potter, I'm impressed that you were able to think quickly enough to absolve this situation without anyone getting hurt.  You will be rewarded fifty points for your quick thinking and actions in this incident."

Harry smiled at Professor McGonnagall and said, "Thank you professor, but I don't think that I deserve any points for this.  I was just doing my job as a prefect, so I don't think that it would be fair to the other prefects if I was awarded house points for simple doing my job."  At this McGonnagall seemed surprised, and Ron and Hermione looked at Harry as if he had gone insane.  Ginny, Mr., and Mrs. Weasley however, all beamed at him with pride.

"Very well Mr. Potter, I've never had a student ever TURN DOWN house points, but if that is what you feel then you will not be awarded any points," said McGonnagall.  Then she added, "I'm extremely pleased to see how much you have matured over the summer Mr. Potter.  Congratulations on your appointment into the Order of Merlin."  Then she walked off to see to the first years.  

Harry, ignoring Malfoy, Crabb and Goyle, turned to the Weasleys and grinned at them.  Then he gestured them all towards the Great Hall entrance, took Ginny's hand and led her into the Great Hall without saying a word.

The sight that they all saw made them all stop short.  Somehow, the Great Hall had been expanded magically and now along with the usual four house tables, which already had all the rest of the students from second year to seventh there were also several other tables as well, which had several hundred adult witches and wizards.  When Harry, Hermoine, and the Weasleys all entered, everyone stood to their feet and started clapping.  Harry, after a moment, led Ginny and the rest of the Weasleys down the center of the room and up to the spots at the teacher's table that was clearly meant for them.  He silently pulled out a chair for Ginny, and saw Ron and Mr. Weasley doing the same for Hermione and Mrs. Weasley.  As soon as they all sat down, the doors to the Great Hall opened and a large group of scared first years walked up to the front of the room and stared and the old Hogwarts Sorting Hat nervously.  After a moment, it began to sing.

_A thousand years or so ago_

_When magic was new and fun,_

_Two witches and two wizards _

_Came and met each other on the run._

_The each were very different _

_And on not much did they agree,_

_Except the fact that all did say _

_That schooling should come free!_

_For Gryffindor it was said_

_That Bravery was best._

_He loved to charge into the fray _

_And eliminate the pest!_

_For Ravenclaw the prize was won_

_For those whose mind was great._

_Facts and truths she love the most_

_And those she used to bait!_

_For Hufflepuff the ones who had_

_Great loyalty for each other._

_Were know to her and all around_

_To not be a bother!_

_And Slytherine so serious_

_Did he see the school, _

_That only those who wished to excel_

_Die he count as cool._

_So put me on, I'll not delay_

_To tell you where you lie,_

_Don't worry about all the fuss_

_I'm really a nice guy!_

After this bizarre song, The Sorting Ceremony started, and Harry zoned out and looked around the Hall.  He saw Remus sitting with a beautiful witch talking quietly with her.  Harry studied the woman from the corner of his eyes. The one sitting next to Remus was obviously Matilda Stormcloud.  She had black hair and sparkling blue eyes that at the moment were filled with mirth over something Remus said.  As he watched, Harry saw Matilda playfully hit Remus' arm then, when he acted as if he were mortally wounded, she rolled her eyes, and leaned in to kiss him on the cheek, earning a grin from Harry's guardian.  She smiled adoringly at Remus, and said something to him that made Remus snort, and Matilda whack him on the arm again.

By this time, the Sorting Ceremony had finished, and Professor Dumbledore stood up to speak.  "Before our start of term notices, I have the privilege to hand out awards to a group of witches and wizards that I am proud to say have been my students.  As many of you know a Death Eater attack was foiled by certain members of the Weasley family, Miss Hermione Granger, and Mr. Harry Potter.  Because of their cool use of intellect, bravery, and knowledge, they were able to keep the Death Eaters from seriously harming anyone, and were able to apprehend nineteen Death Eaters.  For this act we are here tonight to Honor them."  At this Dumbledore turned to them and raised his glass to them.  The entire hall, except a certain group of Slytherines of course, followed suite.  After everyone had finished the toast, Dumbledore went on.

"Now then, as a member of the Order of Merlin First Class, I am allowed to present all of you with your awards.  Please come to the center of the table here when your name is called."

"Mrs. Molly Weasley, Order of Merlin Third Class," at his announcement Mrs. Weasley walked up to the center of the table, where Dumbledore pinned a badge to her dress robes, and handed her a plaque and a rolled up sheet of parchment.

"Mr. Fred Weasley, Order of Merlin Third Class," again Dumbledore pinned a badge on Fred's school robes, next to his silver prefect's badge, and handed him a plaque and a rolled up sheet of parchment.

"Mr. George Weasley, Order of Merlin Third Class," and again Dumbledore did the same thing.

"Mr. Ronald Weasley, Order of Merlin Second Class," this time, Dumbledore pinned two pins on Ron, one on each side of his school robes, and handed Ron his plaque and rolled up parchment.

"Miss Hermione Granger, Order of Merlin Second Class," again Dumbledore pinned two pins on Hermione and gave her a plaque and her parchment.

"Miss Virginia Weasley, Order of Merlin Second Class and the only second fifth year Girls prefect for Hogwarts this year," Dumbledore said, as he pinned the two badges on Ginny and handed Ginny her plaque and parchment.  Ginny blushed when he said this, but smiled when she went to stand beside Ron and Hermione in front of Fred, George, and Mrs. Weasley.

"And finally the last and certainly the opposite from being the least, Mr. Harry Potter, Order of Merlin First Class, the Boy Who Lived."  Harry got up and walked over to where Dumbledore was standing.  Dumbledore first pinned the two badges onto Harry's school robes like he did the others, but then he produced a chain with the same design that was on the two pins on it and put it around his head.  He then produced a sword in a scabbard, and buckled it around Harry's waist.  Finally, he handed Harry a large plaque and two pieces rolled up parchment. He then turned away from Harry to face the crowded hall. "I give you the newest members of the Order of Merlin!" declared Dumbledore in a loud voice.  The clapping and cheering from the audience lasted several minutes after which, everyone sat down and began to eat.

"Who wants to bet how long it takes for me to get on the front page of the Daily Prophet?" asked Harry as he piled food onto his plate.

Ginny grinned at him.  "What's the stakes?" she asked.

Harry thought about it for a second, and then said, "Whoever looses has to do whatever the other person says for a week."

"But Harry," said Ginny in a deceptively innocent voice, "You already do whatever I want, whenever I want."

Harry was about to say something that would probably get him into trouble with his girlfriend, but he had a better idea.  "O.K. fine, how about this:  Whoever wins gets one wish from the other, no questions asked, and NO retaliation received, no matter what."

Ginny thought about it for a second, then grinned impishly.  "Deal," she said.  "You have been on the front page of the Daily Prophet, AND the front cover of Witch Weekly ever since the attack!" she informed him.  Harry stared at her dumbstruck, and then swore under his breath.

"Watch your language!" scolded Ginny playfully, "there ARE ladies present after all."

Harry, again tempted to say something that would probably get him into trouble, started attacking his plate with gusto.  To the other people at the table it looked like Ron and Harry were having a competition: who could eat the most in the least amount of time before they threw up.  Harry seemed to be losing because, even though he was eating large amounts of food very quickly, he was not making a mess of it, and was actually using good table manners.  Ron on the other hand was wildly eating anything that came close to him.  In fact, he almost ate Hermione's hand as she was reaching over to grab the potatoes.  During Harry and Ron's competition, Ginny was conferring with Hermione about what would be the best wish that she could get Harry to do.

"Well that's easy," said Hermione with an impish grin.  "Make him shag you senseless each night for the rest of the year!"  Of course, at this statement, Ginny's face went several shades of red, obviously trying to find a new one that had never been discovered before.

"I'm serious Hermione!" said Ginny.  "I've only got one wish; I need to make it count!"

"Well you COULD make him buy you something expensive, oh I don't know like golden silk dress robes… wait… he's already done that…. Oh! I know! You could get him to buy you the best broomstick on the market… wait… he's already done that too…" teased Hermione, making Ginny go even redder.  "Face it Ginny," she said.  "You're boyfriend's perfect.  He's loving, attentive, rich, famous, good looking, AND doting."

"What and your boyfriend isn't?" Ginny retorted, still blushing slightly.

"Yes well, yours has table manners UNLIKE some stupid prats I could mention," stated Hermione, looking pointedly at Ron, who didn't notice because he concentrating so much on eating.  

Ginny, looking from Ron to Harry, couldn't help but agree.  Then Ginny thought about something.  For the past few days, she and Harry had consistently fallen asleep on the couch in the Burrow.  Frowning, Ginny thought about this.  _Harry, are you listening to me?_ she thought at him, making sure he wasn't spying on her thoughts, but Harry's thoughts were elsewhere at the moment, since he didn't answer.  Harry had told her a little about his telepathic abilities, but not much.  _Harry hasn't had one nightmare since we started sleeping together.  I wonder why that is?_

_It's because we're Soul Mates Ginny_, answered Harry, making Ginny jump slightly from her seat, then glare at her boyfriend who simply stared calmly back.  

After a moment, Ginny thought _What?  What do you mean Soul Mates?_

_I mean that we were meant to be together, to love each other, and to complete each other.  When we sleep together, the connection that we have as Soul Mates somehow takes away the nightmares,_ came the calm, yet loving reply.

At this revelation, Ginny made a decision.  Excusing herself from her seat for a moment, she went behind all the teachers and family to where her mother sat, leaned down and started whispering in her ear.  Mrs. Weasley, listening intently to what her daughter was telling her, gasped a few times and gazed down the table at Harry, then nodded to her daughter, who then went to Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall and requested a meeting with them both after the feast with her family, Remus, Harry, Hermione, and herself.  Intrigued, both professors gave their consent, telling her to lead Harry and the others up to Professor Dumbledore's office as soon as they were finished eating.

About a half hour later the entire Weasley family, Harry, Hermione and three curious professors were gathered in Dumbledore's office, all looking expectantly at Ginny.  Not wasting any time, she started talking.

"Most of you do not know this, since Harry is extremely bad about sharing secrets with… well… anyone," this with a glare at her boyfriend, who grinned weakly in apology.  "But Harry has been having extremely bad nightmares all summer long.  APPARENTLY he only got at MOST three hours of sleep a night the entire time that he was with the Muggles."

At this, everyone looked surprised and then looked at Harry wondering if this was the truth.  "Harry, asked Remus finally, "is this true?"  Harry sighed and nodded not meeting anyone's eyes.  Letting everyone digest this for a few seconds, Ginny continued.

"Once Harry came to the Burrow, his nightmares seemed to have gone away, but I am afraid that if something is not done soon, they will return, TONIGHT."   At this Ginny looked at her mother, who nodded in encouragement, and continued.  "While we were at the Burrow, Harry and I have been sleeping together."  At this all of Ginny's brothers started glaring at Harry so hard Ginny knew that if looks could kill all of her brothers would have been sentenced to Azkaban.  "Harry and I did NOT do anything, we just slept," this was to her six older brothers who, getting the point, stopped glaring at Harry.

"Miss Weasley," said Professor McGonnagall, "if I'm not mistaken, Am I to believe that you are asking for permission to SLEEP WITH Mr. Potter during the school year?"

"Yes Professor," declared Ginny calmly.  "I know that this is a bizarre request, but I already talked to my Mum and she has agreed to give her consent to allow this.  If Remus agrees, then both Harry and I would have our parent's or guardian's consent to this."

At this Ginny looked around, gauging the reactions of everyone present.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were smiling supportive of their daughter and the young man they already considered a son.  Bill, Charlie, and the twins were grinning like idiots, obviously tickled to death. Hermione was urgently talking to Ron who was frowning at what she was saying, but nodding his head.  Professor McGonnagall was beside herself, clearly in shock that a student would come to the faculty with a request like this.  Professor Dumbledore was hiding behind his twinkle, but was not surprised and seemed almost as much as her brothers.  Remus was grinning like a mad man at Harry, obviously supportive of him, but just as obvious were the jokes he was planning on riding him with, probably for the rest of Harry's life.  And Harry… Harry was gazing at her with such a loving, thankful expression on his face that just his gaze momentarily took her breath away.

"I have no problems with this at all Albus," said Remus, still grinning at Harry.

"That may be Remus, but I do have a few worries about this arrangement," replied Dumbledore, earning a worried look from Ginny.

"Professor," said Harry, looking at someone else other than Ginny for the first time.  "I believe that I can alleviate your worries."

"Is that so, Mr. Potter?" asked Professor Dumbledore.  When Harry nodded firmly to him, he motioned Harry to continue.

"Well first of all," Harry began counting off on his fingers.  "You would be worried about the possibility of Ginny and I doing things that we are not ready for, and possibly impregnating Ginny."  At this Ginny blushed from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.  "Well I can tell you that Ginny and I do not plan on doing anything like that at all.  I love her sir, and I have too much respect for her to allow myself to act that way in anything but a marriage arrangement."  At his words, Harry could feel the respect of not only the Professors there, but every member of the Weasley family, Ron's protective nature towards his sister gone completely.

"Second," Harry continued, "you are probably worried about what would happen if Ginny and I were to ever break off out relationship."  When Dumbledore nodded, Harry went on.  "Well I can guarantee that that will not happen.  We're Soul Mates sir, and I'm prepared to cast a Soul Bond Charm to prove it."

When Harry said this, Dumbledore looked at him sharply and asked, "And how do you know about the Soul Bound Charm Harry?  If I am not mistaken, students only learn that charm in their seventh year, and only the theory at that."

Harry considered what to tell them.  _I could tell them the truth._ he said, asking for the Council's advice. _I trust each and every one of these people with my life._

**_*I've watched Dumbledore for years, and I would have to say that I agree with Harry.*_** said Gordic, with the other three founders echoing his statement.  Godric went on **_*We knew that Harry would have to tell someone the truth, and it might as well be the headmaster, and deputy headmistress of OUR school and his family.*___**

After a few moments, Harry had the Council's blessing to tell everyone the truth.

"Professor, before answer your question, I must insist that you activate the shields around this room, and the privacy spells as well," demanded Harry, a new note of authority in his voice that wasn't there before, shocking everyone in the room, even Ginny.  Dumbledore looked at Harry for a few moments, then pulled out his wand and locked all of the doors, shielded the room and activated the most powerful privacy spells that he knew.  Harry, after probing with his senses, wandlessly and wordlessly added a few spells of his own, then said, "Thank you Professor."

"What I am about to tell all of you I am telling in the strictest confidence, because I know that I can trust all of you with my life, because that is what I am doing now," he looked at everyone in the eyes, making sure that they all knew how serious he was. When he was sure that everyone understood that he was being very serious, he told them.  "On my birthday just over a month ago, I was made a part of the Council of Arch-Mages."

For a few moments no one spoke, and then McGonnagall in disbelief said, "Potter, the Council of Arch-Mages is a myth.  No one has ever found proof that such a Council even exists."  
  


"Actually, Professor, it's more accurate that no one has ever SUBMITTED proof that the Council exists," said Harry looking at her with a surprising amount of authority for a sixteen year old.  Looking around he saw disbelief and incredulity on all the faces there, well almost all the faces, Ginny was looking at him with a mixture of love, wonder, and pride.  _Well at least there's one person who believes me_.  "O.K. I guess I'll have to prove it to you," he said.  Harry then closed his eyes and relaxed his hold on his power, then opened his eyes again.  

Immediately everyone else in the room saw the difference.  Harry was surrounded by an aura of sheer power, and his eyes were all but glowing.  Harry snapped his fingers and a magnificent Staff appeared in his right hand.  The Staff was made out of cherry wood, and if anyone was hit by it, they would know that it was as hard as steel.  On the foot of the Staff was a golden metal covering shaped into a point.  On the head of the Staff was a magnificent phoenix with its wings spread in flight with a large red ruby that glowed with power clutched in its open beak and smaller rubies for eyes.  To top it off, Harry's long hair was moving back and forth as if moved by an imaginary breeze.  His stance was different, more confident, and his face held an expression of infinite knowledge and wisdom that most would not see on a face so young, even if he did look about five years older than he actually was.

"Does this prove to you what I am Albus? Minerva?" He asked, authority streaming out of him in his voice, and neither teacher could dispute the fact that he was allowed to speak to them so casually.  No, in fact, they were both wondering if THEY should address HIM by some title.  When they both nodded, Harry closed his eyes again and suddenly the aura of power was gone, his hair stopped moving, and when he opened his eyes, they were no longer glowing.  

However, he was still holding his Staff.  "Since I've already gotten this thing out, I might as well cast the Soul Bond Charm with it and get it over with," he said.  Then, without any more warning, Harry pointed the head of his Staff at Ginny and a flash of light protruded from the gems on the head and suddenly everyone could see a wispy cloud of…something… between Harry and Ginny, connecting them both.  Looking to Dumbledore, Harry was a bit surprised, to see him calm again and beaming at him then nodding his acceptance of the Soul Bond.  After another flash of light, where the connection was made invisible again, Harry tapped the foot of his Staff on the ground, and it became the chain with the phoenix in flight with glowing ruby eyes that everyone remembered from Harry's dress robes.  He calmly slipped it on his neck and put it under his robes.

"Well My Lord Arch-mage I must say this does clear up some questions that I have had for some time now," said Dumbledore, his twinkle back in his eyes.  "If I am not mistaken, you could have easily killed twenty of those Death Eaters without any problem, and what's more probably before they could have even reacted, am I correct?" asked Dumbledore.  When Harry nodded, and glanced around guiltily, he was not surprised, to see that Ron was the only person who seemed to have a problem with this.  Everyone else was shocked, that was for sure, but Ron looked murderous.

"So!  What? You just decided to play a little bit with us 'lesser mortals' is that it Potter?" snapped Ron.  "What did you 'allow' us to get the Order of Merlin out of Pity? Is that it?"

"Ron!" said Ginny in a horrified, yet somewhat angry voice.  "You know that Harry doesn't pity us, he loves us!  Honestly!  Use your brain for once.  If Harry had used his true power, yes he could have taken care of all of them, but then Tom would know of his true power and be able to try to prepare for it."  She was about to say something else, but was interrupted when Dumbledore of all people burst out laughing.

"What? Did I say something Funny!?" asked Ginny, forgetting herself in her anger.

"Actually Miss Weasley I believe you did," said Dumbledore, overlooking her behavior.  "I was just picturing what Lord Voldemort's face would be like if you ever called him 'Tom' in his presence."

Despite herself, Ginny found her lips curving into an amused smile, and then suddenly Harry said, "She's right you know Ron.  I could have probably taken out all of them, without even revealing my true power, but the Council and I have a few bets on what will happen when I unveil my true power in his presence." At this, Harry grinned at his best friend.  "They say that his eyes will pop out, and I say that he'll wet himself." 

It was humanly impossible for anyone to not laugh at the mental picture of Lord Voldemort, the greatest, most terrible Dark Lord to have ever lived, wetting himself.  After the laughter had died down a bit, Ron looked at Harry.

"Sorry mate, don't know why I was complaining.  Thanks to you, my family is happy, safe and rich.  Actually I should probably say our family seeing as how you and my sister are going to be getting married sometime in the future," at this Harry and Ginny both blushed slightly.

"Well Professor, do you have any other problems with the idea of Ginny and I sleeping in the same room?" asked Harry, directing the conversation back to its original topic.

"No Harry, I suppose not, said Dumbledore, relenting finally.  "Actually, this solves a problem we were having." At Harry's confused face, he went on.  "You see Harry, while I awarded Miss Weasley here a prefect's status, I did not think of her sleeping arrangements.  We only have a certain number of prefect rooms per house, and we were trying to decide on whether or not Miss Weasley would sleep with the rest of the fifth years, as a roommate to one of the Prefects, since she is entitled to the perks that come with the job.  You have just answered that question for us." Again, Harry and Ginny both blushed slightly.  "Miss Weasley will be sleeping in your room with you Harry, You will find that by the time you go to your rooms, both of your belongings will already be in your room.  In addition, since you can obviously do extremely advanced magic My Lord Arch-mage, you have my permission to change your room around to both of your likings, including all the furniture.  Miss Weasley, by the end of classes tomorrow, I will have a dresser, and desk moved into your room for you."

"You don't have to worry about that Albus," said Harry, again being more casual than a student should probably be with a teacher.  "When we get to our room, I'll make Ginny a set of dressers and a desk" After that, the matter was closed, and everyone started asking Harry just what he could and could not do.  In response, Harry informed them that he knew everything first year to seventh year, regardless of the class.  He also informed them all about his telepathic abilities, and of the fact that he was a Shifter, which meant that he could assume any form, animal, magical creature, or human.  To prove himself, he shifted into the spitting image of Professor Snape, and pretended to take points off from Gryffindor because they were breathing.  After assuring all three professors that he would not use his abilities to cheat in his classes, everyone left Dumbledore's office and made their way to outside the Gryffindor Commons room, where the entire adult Weasleys said goodbye to Remus, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny.


	7. To be or not to be a prefect?

Chapter 7: To be or not to be a prefect?

Harry and the others stepped through the portal hole into the Gryffindor commons room to be met with thunderous applause.   All of the Gryffindors were there, and soon all the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione were surrounded by eager students trying to find out what had really happened, so for the next hour or so, they all gave their account of what happened, to the gasps and applause of the Gryffindor audience.

Harry especially was gaining an audience, it seemed.  Every single female in Gryffindor and a few that were not single were eyeing Harry appreciatively.  Harry of course, noticed this fact and quickly glanced at Ginny who was scowling heavily in the general direction of the females.  _Uh-Oh, I need to do something quick, or Ginny the green eyed monster is gonna attack those girls_.

**_*Why don't you just let her duke it out with them?*_** asked Apollo. **_*It might be entertaining.* _**

**_*Because you twit, Harry doesn't want Ginny 'entertaining' him in that way,*_** replied Artemis.  **_*Harry you should probably alert the female population of Gryffindor, if not the whole school, that you are taken; that way the girls will know that you are HANDS OFF and Ginny will know that you don't care about any of those airheads.*_**

_Probably sound judgment,_ Harry decided, then he sighed.  _Well I could always do it tomorrow instead of wait until her birthday._

**_*Why wait till tomorrow?* _**asked Ganymede.  **_*Why not just do it now?*_**

_Because I think that doing it in front of the whole school at breakfast tomorrow would be more romantic,_ Harry replied.  _In addition, I already know how I'm going to break it to Gryffindor that I'm 'Hands Off.'_

At that, Harry stood up and held out his hand to Ginny.  Puzzled she took it with her own, and he effortlessly pulled her out of her seat, and pulled her into a long, passionate kiss.  When they broke apart, Ginny and Harry were both breathless, and Ginny looked a bit dazed, as if her mind was not working quite right.  Then Harry noticed that no one was making a sound.  Looking around Harry was pleased to see that he and Ginny had the sole attention of everyone in Gryffindor, then…

"BLOODY BRILLIANT," exclaimed Seamus.

"Hilarious," added Dean.

Ron, grinning, added, "You know that you've just earned the enmity of pretty much the entire female witch population right Ginny?  I mean, while we were in the Burrow, no one but 'Mione saw you two kiss, now that all these girls have seen you two, they are not gonna be quite about it.  You'll probably be getting Howlers by the end of the week!"

Ginny, who still hadn't quite recovered from the kiss, shook her head to clear it, and then looked around.  Now the tables were turned, all the other Gryffindor girls were scowling at her and probably plotting her demise.  Looking to Harry, she grinned impishly.

"Come on Harry, I'm tired, let's go up to our room," she said.

Harry, grinning just as mischievously nodded and said, "Goodnight all, we'll see you all in the morning.  Again, the Commons room was silent as Harry and Ginny walked up the stairs to the top of the dormitory where the Prefect's rooms were.  Going to the door marked with Harry's name they both walked inside, the fact that all of Gryffindor was following them with their gazes apparent.

As soon as they closed the door, Harry and Ginny looked at each other and burst out laughing.  "That was a stroke of GENIOUS Ginny!" exclaimed Harry.  "Now Ron, Hermione have to explain why we're sharing a room!"

Ginny looked at him suddenly.  "You know what?  That never even entered my mind.  I just wanted to see everyone's faces when they found out that we ARE sharing a room," she said with a smile.  

They laughed at that for a few more minutes, and then looked at the room that they were going to share.  To say that it was impressive was an understatement.  This room was easily as large as an entire dorm that they had stayed in during their previous years at Hogwarts.  Decked out in Gryffindor gold and red, it was spacious, with a couch and a few chairs by a fireplace that was crackling merrily with a good-sized fire.  To one side of the room were a dresser and a desk, and on the other side was a four-poster bed, that looked to be extremely comfortable for one occupant, but would probably be a bit cramped for two.  There was plenty of room to add another dresser and desk, and still have plenty of room to move around and what not, even if they DID expand the bed.  There were two perches for birds, Lily, who had flown away as soon as they got off the train to go hunt, occupied one and she had somehow known to come back here.  The other perch was obviously for Hedwig who was either hunting or at the owlrey.  Midnight was already out of her cage, obviously figuring out how to do unlock it, and was on the bed playing with what looked to be the remains of a sock.

Harry looked at Ginny, trying to gauge her reaction, and smiled at the delighted expression on her face.  She looked up at him and smiled a smile of her own before standing on her toes and kissing his cheek.

"Why don't we get settled in then see what secrets this room has hmm?" she suggested.  Nodding in agreement, Harry took out his wand, thought a second, then put it away.  At Ginny's puzzled expression, Harry grinned, gestured his hand towards the desk, and suddenly there were two of them.  One was hovering silently over the original, but there were definitely two desks.  Harry glanced back to Ginny and her eyes were wide with surprise.

"Guess I forgot to mention that I can do magic wandlessly and wordlessly, huh?" Harry asked, with a mischievous look on his face.  "Where do you want this?" 

At that, Ginny snapped out of her surprised stupor, and like any other female on the planet, made Harry move almost the whole room around.  Of course, some of her fun was lessened because whenever she told Harry to move something, he would just point to it, and it would start floating in the air.  Finally, they both had two dressers that were next to the closet that they had found as they explored and settled in at the same time.  Their two desks were settled together in a corner of the room in front of two windows.  The third window actually opened to a small terrace where they could both sit outside which had a surprisingly wonderful view of the Quidditch pitch.  The bed was in the middle of the room backed up to the wall, and was now the size of a fairly large queen sized bed.  "Any larger, and I might actually get lost in there," Ginny complained, half teasingly.  The only things that they did not move were the two chairs and the couch by the fire.  They were both in one of the chairs just then gazing into the fire, when they were both startled by a nock at the door.  Harry, waving his hand carelessly, made the door open, and Ron, Hermione, and Katie all came in, looking around the room in surprise.

"How did you guys move all that so fast?" asked Ron.  "It's barely been a half hour, we came up here to help you," he informed them as he and Hermione settled in the other chair, while the Katie claimed the couch, stretching out on it.  Harry, who had taken his wand back out, swished it at the door lazily and it shut, and locked again.  Ginny, noticing this, looked at him a bit puzzled.  _I don't want anyone else to know about my abilities just yet,_ Harry sent to her looking at the seventh year girl.  Understanding flooded Ginny's mind, and she nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Well Ron, we do know a lot of magic, don't we?" replied Harry with a grin.  "A few levitation charms here, an unpacking charm there, it wasn't all that hard."

"Where did you get that big bed?" asked Katie, looking at the queen size bed behind her. 

"It was here when we got here," replied Ginny.  _Well it's not quite a lie, is it?_ she sent to Harry who just smirked and hugged her tighter to him.

"Did you guys see that we all have our own baths?" asked Ron, excitedly.  "They just added them this year cuz they didn't want prefects going all the way down to the prefect bathroom at night."

"Yeah, ours is huge," replied Harry with a grin.  "It's got a bath and a shower."

"All of them are like that," said Hermione.  "They like to take care of us prefects that's for sure."   Everyone agreed to that statement, and Harry wondered briefly if Malfoy's room was anything like this one.  Then he squeezed Ginny again, and knew that even if Malfoy's room was twice as opulent, it would never be as good as this room, just because Ginny was here.  

"So…" Harry began picking Ginny up and placing her back down on the chair.  She pouted for a second, then remembering the surprise that Harry had for everyone, quickly stopped, but not before she got a kiss.  Harry went to their closet and opened it and rummaged around in his trunk till he found what he was looking for.  He returned to the group and handed a piece of paper to Katie Bell.

She took it, a bit confused, but then her eyes widened as she saw what it was.  She slowly, shakily looked up at Harry with wide, unbelieveing eyes.  "You… You bought the team ALL Bolt Series Brooms!?!?" asked Katie, finally.

"Actually Katie, I bought Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and you Bolt series brooms," replied Harry with a grin.  "I also bought two extra for the two beaters I thought about it, and I decided that the Gryffindor Team deserves the best."

At this, the Head Girl stared up at him dumbly for a second, then, before anyone could react, The door slammed open and Harry's wand was pointed at a somewhat angry beautiful woman with long black hair that fell to her waist, and sparkling blue eyes that were clouded with anger at the moment.  Behind her was Remus, who grinned apologetically.

"Sorry Harry, Matilda got a bit worked up when I told her that you bought a full set plus one of her Bolt Series.  I couldn't stop her," apologized Remus.

Harry, bewildered, lowered his wand, and asked the woman tentatively, "Why would you be angry that I bought a bunch of your brooms?  I mean… doesn't all the money for them go to you?"

"DO YOU THINK THAT I NEED MONEY!" screamed the woman, now quite red in the face.  "MY FAMILY IS PROBABLY AS RICH AS SIRIUS WAS!  WE'VE BEEN MAKING BROOMS SINCE BEFORE WIZARDS COULD FLY ON THEM!"

Harry, taken aback, glanced at Remus, hoping that he could help.

"Calm down Matty," said Remus smoothly.  "Harry doesn't have a clue who you are, remember?  The last time you saw him was when he was a baby."  At this, the woman visibly relaxed, and calmed down a bit.  Remus, still at the door, shut it, and then locked it again.  Then he looked at Harry.  "Harry Matty here was your mother's best friend at school.  When it came time to name your godparents, James chose me, and Lily chose Matty.  She's your godmother."

At this revelation, Harry understood.  "You didn't want me to spend money on anything that you made, did you?" he asked, and Matilda nodded, not letting her eyes stray from his for a second.  Again Harry understood, just how Sirius had been unsure as to the type of welcome Harry would give him two years ago, Matilda was the same way now.  Without saying another word, Harry wrapped her in a tight hug, and finally she broke down and started crying. 

"Oh Harry, I'm so sorry.  I tried to convince Dumbledore to let you stay with me instead of those horrible Muggle relatives of yours, but he would not let me.  He insisted that you would be safer with the Muggles than if you were here in the wizarding world.  If I could have, I would have raised you in a second."  This all came out in a rush in one breath.

"It's O.K. Matilda," replied Harry.  "I'm just glad that I have you as my godmother now."

Once Matilda finally let go of Harry, or rather Remus pried Matilda off of Harry, He looked around.  All the girls had tears in their eyes, and were smiling at the Harry and his godparents.  Remembering his manners, Harry invited them to join the group.

"Here, please, come join us." And before they were able to say anything about the fact that there was no more room, Harry said, "I'll draw you up a chair." 

Then he did, literally.  He pulled out his wand, and like Dumbledore a few years ago, drew a comfortable chair, identical to the one that Ron and Hermione were sitting in, and placed it next to the one that Ginny was sitting in.  He then picked Ginny up, and sat down again, placing her back onto his lap with a contented sigh.  Remus and Matilda sank into the chair with sighs of their own.

"You know what Harry," said Remus after a second.  "Now I know where Lily and James went when they wanted to be alone.  They just went to one of their rooms!  I forgot that  prefect rooms were this nice!"  At this everyone laughed.

"So, what were you all discussing when we um… barged in on you?" asked Matilda.

"Funny you should ask," answered Harry.  "I was just showing everyone the brooms I ordered from you."

"Oh, I have those with me," said Matilda absently.  "I knew that there was supposed to be a shipment coming to Hogwarts, and since I was coming to the Feast to see all of you get into the Order of Merlin, I thought that I might as well bring the order with me.  I didn't even look at the name until tonight, and… well… I guess I got a bit mad." 

"That doesn't even cover HALF of what you got," joked Remus, who was promptly hit on the chest by Matilda.

"That's O.K." said Harry.  "You should have been here for my meeting with Sirius, I wanted to KILL him!"

"Really?" asked Matilda brightly.  "Why was that?"

"Oh, you know, the whole Sirius Black is a wanted criminal who betrayed his best friends, the Potters, and all that jazz," answered Remus for Harry.  After a second, everyone in the room started laughing at the unspoken joke.

"So, how long are you staying at Hogwarts Matilda?" asked Ginny.

Matilda looked at Remus, then Harry then back again, then sighed.  "I don't know," she confessed.  "I was supposed to just come up for the dinner and stay the night, but now Moony here wants me to stay with him. And with you here, I'm finding it hard to resist."

"Can you work if you are here?" asked Harry, "because if my vote counts I would love to get to know you better."

"I was afraid of that," replied Matilda.  "Yes I can work here, I've brought all the things I need to make as many brooms as I want to, but that's not the problem."

"Oh?  What is?" asked Katie, interested in the woman who created the best broom series in the world.

"Snape," growled Remus, his voice speaking volumes.

"Snape?" asked Harry, looking at Matilda who sighed.

"Yes, Severus had a bit of a crush on me all throughout school.  He still sometimes tries to call me and ask me out, but I had eyes for only one man," this she said as she gazed lovingly up at Remus, who still had a murderous look in his eyes.

Getting an idea Harry caught his Guardian's eye and said, "How would you like to play a prank on Snape that would guarantee that he will never come near Matilda ever again Moony?" he asked.

"I don't know…" said Remus hesitantly.  "I was never much for Sniviles bashing in the old days…"

"Oh come on Remus, that's the teacher in you," complained Matilda.  "The Marauder I fell in love with would jump at the chance."  Between Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Matilda, they finally convinced Remus to play along.

"Oh all right fine," he finally said.  "What do you have in mind Harry?"

"Well we'll have to wait a while for this to fully pan out, but here's what I was thinking…"  And so the prank was planned out.


	8. The Start of Classes

Chapter 8: The start of classes

  
After they had planned the prank to end all pranks, and had talked a bit more, Harry and Ron convinced the Ginny and Hermione to join House Team as the new Chasers, and after everyone convincing Harry to be captain of the team, everyone left.  Harry, after some thought, conjured up another of the comfortable chairs.  When Ginny asked him why he had done that, he told her that he figured he might as well, considering the fact that they it looked like they would probably be entertaining guests again, and next time he expected at least Remus and Miranda to be there as well. After a bit of thought, Ginny agreed with him and had him move the chairs and couch back a bit so that everything was 'just so.' After that, Harry and Ginny spent a wonderfully unknown amount of time getting to know each other better, and while they did not go all the way, they still experimented with what they could do.  Finally, however, they both found themselves rather exhausted, so they changed into night clothes (neither had anything to hide from the other at this point) and climbed into bed.  

Harry woke up in his bed extremely refreshed the next morning, especially when he felt the soft warm body next to him as she slept.  He contemplated letting her sleep in a bit, but then glanced at the clock.  It was already 7:30, and classes started at nine.  If they wanted to get breakfast, they needed to get up.  Grinning for a second, Harry cupped Ginny's jaw in his hand, and pulled her into a kiss.  Fairly soon, she responded, wrapping her arms around his neck, and pulling him closer. Finally when they broke apart, she smiled at him.

"Good Morning to you too!" she joked.  "What time is it?"

"Around seven thirty, I thought we should get ready then go down to breakfast together." Harry replied.

"OK then," returned Ginny with an impish look on her face, "just enough time for us to shower together and get down to the Great Hall."  Harry was not about to argue.

After they had showered, which took longer than usual for *ahem* unknown *ahem* reasons, they dressed in their black Hogwarts robes, pinned their prefects badges onto their robes, then left the dormitory, with Lily flying above them.  As Harry and Ginny entered into the Great Hall, all eyes turned to them, and they both knew it was not because of the Phoenix flying over their heads.  Word had spread about them sharing a room, and everyone wanted to see how they reacted after their 'first night together.'  Well almost everyone, Ron and Hermione were talking softly to themselves.  Katie, after hearing a small amount of the prank had disavowed any knowledge of it, and fled to the Head Girl's dormitory in Gryffindor.  Harry and Ginny sat down next to Ron and Hermione and brightly greeted the other couple.  As they were all eating, Matilda and Remus walked into the Hall.  Remus quickly walked over to Harry and the others, and dropped a note in Harry's lap.  Harry looked at Remus surprised, but Remus was already hurrying to the staff table.  Harry opened the letter, and spread it on the table so everyone could see it.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, 

            You are all cordially invited to join the Order of the Phoenix.  Meet in the Great Hall after hours tonight if you wish to join.  Since you are all prefects, and prefects are allowed out after hours, this does not break any school rules.  Please come dressed in dress robes, with your wands at promptly 11:00 p.m.

Professor M. McGonnogall,

Deputy Headmistress

Order of the Phoenix

Harry was about to comment, when he saw Malfoy edging towards them, obviously trying to find out what was going on.  Pulling out his wand, he quickly put fire to the letter, and let it burn most of the parchment before putting it out.  Looking at the rest of the group, he mouthed 'Later,' and they all nodded in understanding.  Just then, Professor Dumbledore called out to him.

"Mr. Potter, could you please approach the Head Table?" he asked.

Looking mystified as to what could possibly be wrong, Harry, quickly followed by Ginny went up to see what was going on.

"You may sit down Miss Weasley, you were not called up here," said Snape, as awful as ever. 

"She may stay if she wishes Severus, we are not disclosing any secret information, we are simply asking Mr. Potter if his Phoenix will be attending classes with him," replied Dumbledore.

Harry, understanding looked to Lily, which was comfortably perched on Ginny's shoulder now and focused on her.

"Lily?" as soon as he said her name the phoenix looked at him.  "Do you want to follow me around to classes, or do you want to go back up to the dorm and stay there?"  Lily pondered this for a moment then trilled her reply _I do not wish to leave you Harry, you or your Ginny, but if it is your wish that I remain in your quarters, that I will abide by them._

"Why don't you want to leave me Lily?" asked Harry, knowing that everyone in the Hall, except for Dumbledore and the others who had been in his office the previous night were looking at him as if he were crazy.  _There are dangers within these walls that none know of.  Fawkes has informed me of some, and I have found others.  You, Harry, are powerful and can handle these dangers, but what of your Ginny?_

Harry pondered this for a few moments.  Then, closed his eyes and opened his extra senses to the world around him.  As Lily said, he felt the danger within the walls of the castle; in fact, he felt danger everywhere around him.  That made up his mind.  Before opening his eyes, Harry opened all his senses fully, so that he would be able to sense any and all magic around him at all times.  Opening his eyes, he was ready for the wash of colors and information filtering into his mind, one of the things that he could now do as an Arch-mage was partition off parts of his mind to certain tasks.  Setting aside a small amount of his mind to deal with all the information he was receiving, He turned back towards Dumbledore.

"Lily is to be allowed in any and all classrooms that she goes into, regardless of the time or currant occupants," he softly, but firmly said, making sure there was no way Dumbledore could mistake it for anything but an order.  Snape was looking at Harry in surprise, not believing that Harry would talk to the Headmaster that way, but Dumbledore merely nodded, and then just as quietly informed Harry that the teachers would be made aware of his wishes.

As they were about to go back to the Gryffindor table, Harry, mind full of mischief, stopped suddenly.  "Ginny?" he said, making sure that his voice carried to the far end of the hall.  

Ginny, hearing the mischief in his voice turned and looked at him and raised her eyebrow.  _What are you plan-_ but that was as far as she got because Harry had again pulled her to him, and in front of the whole school this time, kissed her soundly on the mouth.  When they had finished (Harry cut it short so that none of the teachers would have a chance to react) Harry, a bit breathless, said, "Thanks, I needed that." Then led the slightly dazed Ginny back to the Gryffindor table which had all come to their senses just seconds before, and were all clapping and cheering as Harry and Ginny sat down.

"Harry, as much as I love kissing you, you really need to stop doing that to me," chided Ginny lightly.  "Kissing me senseless in private, or even with the rest of our family and friends around is one thing, but in front of the whole school?  What were you thinking?"

"Oh well, I decided that since rumors were going to be flying around about us sooner or later, we might as well make sure that the whole school knows about our relationship, so all the girls could know that I have eyes for no one but you," replied Harry with a grin.

**_*Oh, quick thinking,*_** came Rowena's voice.  **_*you really should have seen Snape's expression when he saw that kiss, it was priceless.*_**

**_*Yeah, it was.*_** came Salazar's voice.  **_*It makes me sorry for that fool of a man who thinks he can successfully lead MY house as well as I could.  What ARROGANCE!  I should turn him into a toad!*_**

**_*Now Salazar*_** came Helga's teasing voice.  **_*You know that transfiguring is never to be used on idiots to teach them a lesson, it wouldn't be appropriate.*_**

**_*Focus*_** said Godric.  **_*Harry, while you are in classes, we will go ahead and do our own scans of Hogewarts, see if anything is not what it should be.  In turn, I want you to keep your eyes open for any of these dangers that Lily was talking about, and if you can, deal with them as soon as possible, immediately if you can swing it.*_**

_I'll keep my eyes and other senses peeled_ promised Harry as he, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny walked out of the Hall.  Harry quickly told his two best friends that he would meet them in Defense Against the Dark Arts after he walked Ginny to Transfiguration.  He walked with Ginny, hand in hand until they reached the Transfiguration classroom where he kissed her again, and promised to see her at lunch.  He then made his way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, knowing that he and his friends had left early and he was still ten minutes early.  He walked into the room, and saw Remus and Matilda talking quietly in the front of the room.  He quickly put his bag onto a table in the front, making sure to save spaces for Ron and Hermione, and then joined the two of adults.

"Harry, you should have SEEN the looks that you and Ginny got!" exclaimed Remus as soon as he walked up.

"Snape's face was priceless," added Matilda.  

"I bet it was," said Harry grinning, "It was really fun too."  

Before Remus or Miranda could comment about THAT, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the class walked in and started taking their seats.  Matilda, winking at him, made her way into Remus' office, and Remus motioned for Harry to take stay where he was.

"Ah, wonderful," began Remus.  "Most of you probably remember me, but for those who have forgotten, I am Professor Remus Lupin."  At his name, several students flinched involuntarily, they all knew he was a werewolf.  After he chuckled for a few seconds, he went on.  "Now then, for the first few days of term, we are going to be studying Dementors."  Again, the class shuddered, and Hermione raised her hand.

"Yes Miss Granger?" asked Remus.  "Do you have a question?"

"Yes sir," replied Hermione.  "I was just wondering why we are studying Dementors now, I mean, that's on the seventh year's agenda isn't it?"

Harry, who had been wondering why the heck he was standing in front of the class with the two teachers, now began wondering how in the heck Hermione knew what seventh year Defense against the Dark Arts students were supposed to know.

**_*Well, YOU knew that, didn't you?*_** asked Salazar in amusement.

_Yes Salazar, but Hermione didn't go through the classes from first through seventh during her stay at Avalon either did she?_ returned Harry.

"Yes, well I was just getting to that Miss Granger," answered Remus.  "Professor Dumbledore wants as many students to know about Dementors in the unlikely event that they join with Voldemort's ranks, so that they can fight them."

"Now then, it will be a few days until we get to the actually fighting of the Dementors, but I thought that it would be a good idea for the class to get a bit of a preview as to what we are studying, Harry, if you please?" asked Remus.

"Maybe I shouldn't…" he said uncomfortably.

"Nonsense, I know you can do it," said Remus cheerfully.

Harry, who had easily figured out what his guardian wanted him to do, had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.  _Great he had to chose a spell that changes due to abnormal power levels didn't he?_

**_*Go easy on him Harry,*_**replied Morgana.  **_*He probably doesn't KNOW that it will be different because you are an Arch-mage.  There hasn't been an Arch-mage in several hundred years.*_**

Harry, resigning himself to the worst, raised his wand towards the back of the class room, hoping that his Patronus wouldn't hurt anyone, and yelled out "Expecto Patronum," while thinking about his kissing Ginny in the Great Hall minutes before.

Out of his want shot out a huge stag, followed by another, then another, until at least ten had shot out, and then out shot a huge wolf, that those in the classroom who knew about it would know that it was a werewolf.  Nine other werewolves followed then ten large dogs that looked like Grims.  That was not the most astonishing thing about them, however, no, these patronii were not just numerous but they were all solid gold.  To top it off, instead of just wandering around the room docilely as they should have done when not faced with a Dementor, they all charged.  Right THROUGH the wall at the back of the classroom and charged off down the hall, which the astonished students and class could see, since they back wall was in shambles.  Before anyone else could react to THAT, Harry was running behind them.

"Harry!" yelled Remus, forgetting to distance himself from his students momentarily.  "Where are you going?"

"Dementors!" came back Harry's quick reply.

The rest of the class, as well as Remus and Miranda, not knowing what to say or think, quickly followed the young Arch-mage, until they saw literally LEAP out a window falling towards the ground.  By now, the commotion had caused several other classes to come out and see what where going on, so it was not surprising to hear Ginny Weasley's frightened scream as she watched her boyfriend apparently leap to his death.  

However, that was not what was to occur.  Moments after he leapt out of the window, Lily, his Phoenix caught his robes in her strong claws, and flew him quickly, yet safely to the ground.  It was only then that the students and teachers truly saw what was going on.  Standing on the grounds before the school where hundreds upon hundreds of Dementors.  Everyone watching from the windows of the school were just in time to see Harry's thirty gold patronii slam into their ranks.  Wherever one of Harry's Patronii attacked a Dementor, it would simply disappear in a puff of evil looking black smoke.  Harry, as soon as he had gotten on the ground, had pointed his wand , and methodically began to cut through the Dementor ranks with cast after cast of a strange spell that shot out a golden beam of light, much like that of the Patronus, except it simply went through Dementors like they were paper, and kept on going.  As effective as he was, it seemed to all watching that Harry and his magical protectors were simply outmatched, because for every one dementor that was destroyed, two seemed to take it's place, and they were slowly but surely drawing near to the young man.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM" yelled five voices, and the watching students, turned to see Professor Remus Lupin, along with Matilda Stormcloud, Hermione Granger, and Ron and Ginny Weasley pointing their wands at the ground.  Five silver patronii went down to join the fray.  Even though the sliver patronii were not able to actually kill Dementors like Harry's, they were able to hold them off for a time, long enough it seems for Harry to finish the job.  

To most who saw it that day, none knew whether they had actually seen Harry change or not.   It was over too soon to tell, but it seemed that Harry suddenly let off a glow of power around him, and there was a flash of bright gold light that everyone averted their eyes to, and as soon as they looked back, they saw Harry and thirty magical protectors alone on the grounds.

Harry was extremely angry.  _WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME THAT THERE WERE DEMENTORS COMING THIS WAY?!?!?_

**_*Harry calm down,*_**came Merlin's calm voice.  **_*We were all focusing INSIDE the castle, none of us thought that an attack would come from the outside.*_**

**_*Plus,*_** added Morgana.  _***You seemed to be able to handle them fairly well.***_

_Weren't YOU the ones that told me to keep my power levels and spells strictly to those of a wizard?_ he asked the Council.  _I just used MAGUS Level spell!_

**_*Harry no one remembers anything about the ancient ranks of powers,*_ **came Circe's soft voice.  _***They will simple assume that you were using wizarding spells, because the ancient Mage and Arch-mage ranks have not been seen for thousands upon thousands of years.  Most of us worked behind the scenes enough to make sure that the wizarding world is happily ignorant to our existence***_

By this time, students and teachers were streaming out the doors of the castle, Remus, Matilda, Hermione and the Weasleys at the front of the crowd of people rushing towards the young man.

"Harry!  What where you THINKING?" yelled Remus and Matilda, as soon as they had reached him.  "You could have been killed!"

Everyone, it seemed was waiting for him to answer that question because, as he looked around, he saw everyone from Ginny to Dumbledore looking at him expectantly.

"Well… you did say that you wanted to show the class a preview of Dementors didn't you?  I was just trying to accommodate you," came his weak response.

Due to the fact that all the students were now scared witless as to whether the Dementors were coming back or not, and the fact that the teachers were just as witless after Harry's 'Dementor demonstration,' as he put it.  Classes had been canceled for the day.  All the students had been sent back to their commons room, except for Harry, which of course meant that Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were all going with him up to Dumbledore's office with the rest of the staff and Matilda.

As soon as the office door was closed, Professor Snape rounded on the young man.

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING POTTER?" he yelled.  "COULDN'T STAY OUT OF THE LIMELIGHT FOR ONE DAY COULD YOU?  JUST LIKE YOUR FA-," but Snape was not able to finish his sentence, because he had been blown back onto the floor by a banishing charm that Harry had calmly cast.  All the teachers and students looked at Harry in astonishment, especially Professor Snape, who was struggling up at the time.

"You will NOT speak of my parents EVER again SIR," spat out Harry, saying the last word with obvious contempt.  "I just saved your life, as well of every single life in this school, and if you even THINK about my parents, I will do things to you that will make you WISH for the Cruciatus curse!"  

At that, those teachers and students who knew about Harry's true nature started edging away from him slowly, not wanting to anger him even more.  Those teachers and students that DIDN'T know about his identity started to as well.  All that is, except Matilda.  Matilda with fire blazing in her beautiful blue eyes strode angrily over to Snape and punched him, hard on the jaw, knocking him down again.

"IF YOU EVER SAY ANYTHING LIKE THAT TO MY GODSON SEVERUS I WILL KILL YOU!" she screamed at him.  Then, before anyone could react to HER fiery outburst, she walked over to Harry and engulfed him in a tight hug.  "Thank you, Harry."

When his godmother hugged and thanked him, all of Harry's anger melted away instantly, and he hugged her back.  Everyone else, let out the breaths that they had unconsciously been holding, as Snape tried to get back off the ground, but couldn't quite seem to do so.  Matilda had broken his jaw.  Harry, seeing this, and  in an attempt of apologizing, raises his wand again, and quickly mended the Potions Master.

As soon as Matilda let go, Harry was engulfed by a now sobbing Ginny as she pulled him close to her, obviously afraid that he would go do something dangerous and stupid if she let him go.  When everyone was seated around the growing number of couches and chairs around Dumbledore's fire, Ginny sitting in Harry's lap hugging him just as tightly as she had before and outright refusing to let go of him, Dumbledore turned to Harry and asked him what happened.

"Well sir," he began.  "I was in Defense Against the Dark Arts where we were going over Dementors when Remus, I mean Professor Lupin, asked me to perform the Patronus charm to show the other students what we would be leading up to.  I did so, even though I tried to warn Professor Lupin that my patronus was… larger than he might have thought… and as soon as I cast it, they all started charging towards the back of the room, broke through the back wall of the classroom and started charging down the hallway.  I knew that they would only do this if there were Dementors around, so I quickly followed them, not wanting to allow Dementors to gain access to the school.  I saw them all jump out the window and make their way to the ground, I also saw Lily circling in the sky, and I knew she would catch me, so I followed my Patronii out the window.  Lily caught me like I expected, and as soon as I got on the ground, I started killing those filthy creatures," this he spat out as if he had a bad taste on his tongue.

"Yes I was going to ask you about that," said Professor Flitwick.  "If I am not mistaken, and I rarely am when it comes to charms, you performed the Luminous Patros Charm, correct?  When Harry nodded, Flitwick continued.  "You simply must tell me how you learned it.  I teach it to seventy years as theory, due to the fact that I can't perform it!"

Harry looked at the expectant teachers, then said, "It was in a book that Hermione gave me for my birthday.  I learned it from there, knowing that if I ever came across a dementor it might come in handy.

**_*Nice lie Harry,*_** teased an amused Godric.  **_*Next you can tell them that the bright light actually was due to the position of Venus in the sky at the time, and you had nothing to do with it*_**

_Well what do you want me to say Grandfather?_ asked Harry.  _ 'Oh I learned that charm after I was endowed with more power than any other witch or wizard alive, because I am the Chosen of prophecy to usher in a new golden age for wizarding kind.  Oh yeah and I learned it from a bunch of famous witches and wizards that everyone thinks is dead but are really in a castle in another dimension.  How well would THAT go over?_

"What's going on here?" asked Professor Snape suddenly looking around at the other teachers.  "If this were any other student, we would have already expelled him from school for such a dangerous and rash act, regardless of whether he 'saved the entire school.'"

"Be quite Severus, everyone knows that you were jealous of James, and now that jealousy has transferred on to James' son," growled Remus.  "I will not stand for it!"

"Be quiet you filthy werewolf!  I KNOW that something is going on here and I demand to know what it is.  It is my right as a teacher of this school!" returned Snape, angrily.

"Actually Professor, you can demand to know all you want, but you are not going to find out," returned Harry, a bit of his anger coming back.  "I'm not going to inform you about anything that you don't need to know.  I've informed the Headmaster, and the head of my house and THEY are the only ones who really NEED to know what is going on here."

At this statement, Dumbledore looked from Harry to an extremely angry Snape and decided to step in before someone, namely Snape, got hurt.  "Harry, perhaps the rest of the teachers shou-,"but that was as far as he got.

"You can stop right there Albus," broke in Harry, shocking all the teachers other than Professor McGonnagall that he was addressing Dumbledore on a first name basis.  "I'm not going to budge over this.  YOU may trust Severus Snape with your secrets and  you life, however I will not," Harry informed him firmly.  Then, looking to the absolutely livid Potions Master, he went on.  "You have done nothing, for all my time here at Hogwarts to give me the impression that I can trust you Professor Snape.  In fact, the one time my life was entrusted into your hands, someone dear to me was killed.  I still have not forgiven you for Sirius' death, it is quite possible that I never will.  Why do you think that you are entitled to that trust now when you never EARNED it before?"

Snape looked even more pale than usual as he looked around the room at the other Professors, finally raising his head to look at the Headmaster.  "Potter has gone TOO FAR this time Albus.  I WILL NOT PUT UP WITH IT.  I demand that you both take the necessary disciplinary actions and INFORM me what all this is about, OR I will hand in my resignation IMMEDIATELY!"

Dumbledore, alarmed at the vehemence of his fellow Professor's demand.  Looking to Harry, he saw that the sixteen year old was looking firmly back at him, and Dumbledore knew that he would not budge in his decision.

"This is Mr. Potter's secret Severus," said Dumbledore wearily.  "If he does not wish for you to know about it, I cannot betray his trust by telling you."  Snape looked stunned at this.  He had been sure that Dumbledore would tell him, or make Potter tell him.  "If you wish to hand in your resignation that is your decision of course, but…"

Snape slowly looked around the room.  Harry had a guilty, yet determined look on his face.  Ginny was gazing between Dumbledore, Harry, and Snape unsure as to how to react.  All the other students were so surprised by this conversation, that they were just dumbly looking at each other.  The rest of the staff looked fearfully, yet expectantly between Snape and Dumbledore.  Finally, someone spoke to Harry in defense of Snape, but it was the last person anyone would have thought to side with the Potions Master.

"Harry, I might not like Severus," stated Remus.  "But I do think that you can trust him."  At this, the entire room looked at Remus in surprise, but he was looking straight into his godson's eyes.  "Normally, I would be the first person to side against Severus Snape, but you do owe the staff an explanation for today, and I think that Severus should be privy to that.  He is entitled to it as a member of the Hogwarts staff."

Harry considered his words for a moment, and then decided to ask the Council for their opinion.  _What do you guys think?  What should I say?_

**_*Personally I'm inclined to side with you Harry,*_** informed Salazar.  **_*In this instance you must be shrewd if you do not wish to reveal your hand too early.  Whether or not he is trustworthy is immaterial.  If you tell one of Voldemort's supporters, even a double agent like Snape, then you risk the Dark Lord finding out.  You do not know what Voldemort does to his followers.  He could easily torture them for information if he does not hear what he wants to, and you can be sure that Snape will be called to answer the questions that Voldemort has as to what occurred today.  The less he knows the better, for all our sakes.*_**

**_*Yes, what he doesn't know, he can't pass on to the enemy,* _**agreed Morgana.  **_*However I propose that you meet them all halfway in this instance.*_**

_What do you mean?_ asked Harry.

***_Allow Snape to remain as you give an explanation, but stick to your story as to how you learned the charm.  Then, remind the teachers that you were well within your rights an honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League.  After that, refuse to supply any information to any member of the staff,* _**came Morgana's reply.

Harry sighed looking from face to face.  Everyone was tense, and fearful about the situation.  His friends looked as if they wanted to bolt out of the room, so that they could get away from what this meeting had turned in to.  Even Ginny, still in his lap was looking unsure about what was going to happen.  Remus looked to be quietly supportive of him, but still had questions that they wished to ask.  Finally Harry looked to his godmother.  What made up his mind, was the slight nod that Matilda gave him when he looked to her.

"Very well, I know that I owe a bit of an explanation to the staff.  Professor Snape, I'm sorry for my earlier words, they were said in the heat of the moment and I didn't mean them."  When Snape had nodded, Harry went on.  "As you all know I've had a bit of a growth spurt during the summer.  I've had a magical growth spurt as well.  That was how I was able to stun five Death Eaters at once, and that was why my Patronus is… the way it is.  I did not feel safe in the least with my Aunt and Uncle, regardless of what Professor Dumbledore said, so I took it upon myself to prepare myself against all the enemies that I knew I had, and that definitely includes Dementors.  After one of them tried to perform the Kiss to me in my third year and once again last summer, I knew that I would have to face them again, so I prepared."  At his words, everyone looked relieved at first, then a bit uncomfortable when he revealed his feelings during the summer.  "When I figured out that there were Dementors on the grounds, I simply acted.  I did not think of ramifications, I simply did not want any student to have to go through what those creatures do to people.  I wanted to protect them from that.  I DO however believe that I have not over stepped myself in this matter Professor Snape."  At this, Snape looked at him with a sneer on his face once again, daring him to talk his way out of trouble.  "As you may or may not know, one of the things rewarded to me was an honorary membership in the Dark Force Defense League.  I have also have my underage magical use restrictions waived.  Due to these facts, I repeat that I do not believe that I have done anything wrong."

After hearing this, everyone looked expectantly at Dumbledore who, after a moments thought, told all the students, including Harry to make their way to Gryffindor tower, so that the teachers could discuss the matter among themselves.  As everyone left, Harry sent a quick message to Remus and Matilda.  _Meet us all in my dorm room tonight after dinner._  Not waiting to see their reactions, Harry quickly led the Weasleys, and Hermione back to Gryffindor Tower where Ginny pulled him up to their room, which now had both their names on it.  As soon as the door was closed, Ginny rounded on him.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!?!"  she yelled.  "I FELT MY HEART STOP AROUND THIRTY TIMES TODAY!!!"

"Ginny, calm down," pleaded Harry.

"CALM DOWN?!?! WHEN YOU ALMOST GET KILLED!  YOU WANT ME TO BE CALM?  I AM CALM!!!" came her reply, then in a quivering voice, she continued.  "I thought that you were going to DIE Harry.  I-I just can get it out of my head that I almost lost you."  She looked down, the tears that had threatened to fall in Dumbledore's office, finally spilling onto her face.

"Ginny, look at me," said Harry, gently raising her head to look at her in the eyes, as well as wiping her tears away.  "You are not going to lose me.  I could have taken care of those Dementors any time I wanted to.  I just wanted to refrain from using my power if I could."

"So… so you weren't about to die?" asked Ginny.

"No," answered Harry, leading her to the couch and pulling her down onto it with him.  "Truth be told, it was suicide for them to even come near me."

Hearing this, Ginny was silent for a moment, then, "Harry, what can you do now?  I mean… what are you capable of?  How did you BECOME an Arch-mage?"

"I'm going to be answering that for everyone tonight, but I'll tell you a bit of it," replied Harry.  "First of all, you might as well know that I'm connected with the Council at all times." At her confused look, he explained.  "We can hear each other's thoughts, as well as see, hear, taste, smell, even feel what any other member of the Council can."  Sensing what she was thinking, he added.  "We can also close ourselves off if we want to, and you can be sure that I close myself off to everything whenever I with you." She colored at this, but nodded her acceptance, so Harry went on.  "You already know that I am telepathic, and that I am a Shifter.  I can also sense and see magic around me.  It's something more than the Scanner ability, even though I have that as well.  In fact, every single ability that you have ever heard of, I have.  I also have several that you haven't.  For example, I'm a Beast-speaker, which means that I am able to speak to and understand anything from an ant to a Dragon.  I am also able to perform Elemental magic."

"Elemental magic?" asked Ginny, still confused.

"I'm able to control the elements.  Fire, Water, Earth, Air, I'm able to control pretty much anything around us.  Combining those four, I can do anything from raising mountains, to controlling lightening," came his calm reply.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.  Ginny pulled out her wand, and waived it in the direction of the door, and it unlocked.  She then asked whomever it was outside to come in.  Professors Dumbledore, McGonnagall, and Lupin stepped in, as well as Matilda.  They all had somewhat grim expressions on their faces.

"Harry, first of all, I would like to tell you that you have earned Gryffindor Two Hundred points for your act of heroism today," began Dumbledore.  "After discussing what happened, the staff agreed that you were indeed in your rights to do what you did, and that you deserved a suitable reward.  So, since I know that you would like to tell your friends and family about what REALLY happened, and probably will have to answer several questions, Professor McGonnagall and I decided to allow you and whoever you wish to receive dinner here in your rooms tonight."  At that, Dumbledore conjured a large table and chairs, which fit, on one side of the bed, away from the couch and chairs by the fireplace.  "Unfortunately, Professor Snape did not agree with the rest of the staff, and has decided to take an extended sabbatical and will spend the next few years off," he went on.  "So, I have decided to hire Professor Stormcloud here to take over for him.  Unless things change between you and Professor Snape, she will probably be your potions professor for the remainder of your stay at Hogwarts.  Professor Vector has become the interim head of Slytherine house.  I will caution you, however, as to what you reveal tonight.  Both Professor McGonnagall and I will be speaking to the two Professors here, and they will tell us anything and everything that you reveal tonight."

After that, he and Professor McGonnagall left, leaving Remus and Matilda standing by the door.  Harry looked from face to face, saw that they had questions, and decided to get on with the interrogation.  "Remus, why don't you get the Ron and bring them up here.  I know that everyone has questions, and I might as well answer them all at once."  As Remus left, Harry pulled Ginny into one of the chairs by the fire, and motioned for the Matilda to sit down.  Matilda, following Harry and Ginny's example both sank into a chair, obviously saving it for herself and Remus.  After a few moments, he returned with Ron and Hermione.  When everyone had seated themselves, Harry got up, put Ginny back in the chair that they had sat in, and began.

"I know that all of you have questions that you want to ask, but wait until everyone has been brought up to speed," he said.  When everyone had nodded in understanding he went on.  "This past summer on my birthday I was made a member of the Council of Arch-mages, I know that those of you who didn't know this before don't believe me, so I will prove it to you," and before anyone could react Harry changed, for the second time it two days.  An aura of sheer power surrounded him, and his eyes all but glowed with that same power.  His hair began to move of it's own accord, and he snapped his fingers, and his staff was back in his hand, the ruby at the head glowing as bright as ever.  

Matilda stared at him, her jaw slack in unbelief.  Not unbelief that he was now an Arch-Mage, but in unbelief that they power that was evidently inside of him was possible to contain.  Everyone who had seen this side of Harry before, were not affected as much, but they were still uneasy with the powerful figure before them.  Everyone had noticed that Harry's movement's had been unnaturally graceful, catlike, but adding the sheer power that was within him, and the knowledge that they could see in his eyes, and the wisdom that was clear by his expression, and he now looked downright dangerous.  After a few moments of this, Harry again took control of his power, and he was the same again, only his staff remaining.  Again he raised the staff and pointed it at the door.  The door glowed in response to the glow of the ruby on his staff, and that glow slowly surrounded the floor, walls and ceiling of the room, then disappeared.  Then, Harry let go of his staff, and it disappeared as well.  "There, now we can speak freely, and no one will be able to bother us," he informed them.

"What did you do?" asked a curious Hermione.

"Cast a Mage level Locking and Silencing charm around the room, so that no one can leave or enter the room, or eavesdrop, even if they are flying right outside one of these windows.  Also, since it's a Mage Level charm, no witch or wizard alive can break it, not even Dumbledore," came Harry's answer.

At this, everyone frowned in confusion.  Harry, knowing what they were thinking answered their unasked question. "There are several levels of spells that can be cast.  You all know about the O.W.L's, and the N.E.W.T.'s.  Remus and Matilda know about the A.W.L.'s: the Advanced Wizarding Levels, which many Ministry employees must learn.  These are all grouped under the Wizard Level spell group.  Above that group in power and complexity is the Sorcerer Level spell group, which Professor Dumbledore, Nicholas Flamel, and a few others can cast.  Yes that does unfortionately include Voldemort.  Above those, however are three other levels that the wizarding world has forgotten the Enchanter, Mage, and finally Arch-Mage spell groups.  All of these require even more levels of power and complexity than most people are capable of."  He stopped there to make sure everyone was following so far, and by the expressions on their faces, he knew they were so he went on.  "Voldemort, if he tried, could probably cast Enchanter level spells, but since there is no spell book that has recorded anything past Sorcerer lever, he probably does not know this.  Given my title, all you must guess have guessed that I can cast Arch-Mage level spells."  Then he shocked them even more by saying.  "The powerful aura that all of you witnessed was not my true power, it was the power of a Mage.  My true power is exponentially greater than that, but I didn't want to show you, because it's quite shocking."

"What does your whole body catch fire or something?" asked Ron, half jokingly.

"No, actually I'll look the same as I do right now," answered Harry.  "You'll just be able to… sense… the power that I can wield.  When I first saw Merlin, I almost wet my pants in surprise, and I'm a lot more powerful than Merlin is."

At this, everyone was torn between curiosity and confusion, and curiosity quickly won.   "Could you show us what you mean?" asked Ginny.  "Could you show us your true power?"  Harry looked at her for a moment, and then nodded, immediately, even though he did not look different, they knew what me meant.  It was more than slightly disconcerting.  On the one hand, Harry looked the same as he had since they met in Diagon Alley on the 25th of August, but on the other, every single person in the room could sense, almost see the power radiating from him.  It was enormous, as he said exponentially larger than what they had witnessed before.  In fact, if they were to guess, everyone in the room would have guessed that Harry had an infinite amount of power that he could call upon.  To say that everyone was unnerved was an understatement.  

Harry was nervously looking from person to person trying to gauge their reactions.  Everyone looked back at him in surprise and fear, which was of course what he had been worried would happen.  Finally, however, Ginny got up out of her seat, and walked towards her boyfriend who was eying her warily.  As soon as she got close enough she got on her tiptoes, pulled his head down, and kissed him as lovingly and as passionately as she could.  Breaking apart again, Harry looked into her eyes, and saw love and pride shining in her chocolate brown eyes, and then he saw mischief bubble to the surface.

"I don't care HOW powerful you are Potter," she said.  "You'll still do well to do whatever I say WHENEVER I say it, and not make me angry if you want to live."  At her words, the tension in the room broke and everyone laughed.

Harry hugged Ginny close to him in thanks.  "I was worried that if you lot found out the truth, you would turn me away," he said to them, to her.  "Being involved in any way with an Arch-Mage, especially one that's prone to dangerous situations would be hard on anyone; I wouldn't blame you if you did."

At his words, Matilda spoke for everyone in the room.  "Harry we would never turn our backs on you, we all love you.  It doesn't matter if you are the most powerful Arch-mage in the history of the world, or the weakest squib, we would never leave you."  Harry smiled in thanks, and pulled Ginny back into the chair with him, holding her close.

"O.K, I know that I've answered some questions, and probably raised some more, after you guys finish asking your other questions, I will tell you all how I became an Arch-Mage, since I know all of you are dying to know."

"What all can you do?" asked Ron, and Harry quickly outlined his abilities to them all, demonstrating by talking to each of them telepathically, and shifting into several different creatures, some magical and some not.  

He also showed off his beast speaking abilities by making Midnight, Lily, and Hedwig to a number of tricks.  As soon as he was done with that, Midnight jumped into Ginny's lap, who incidentally was on Harry's lap and mewed at Harry.  Harry, laughing, informed Ginny that Midnight was demanding that she pet the kitten.  As soon as Ginny did so, Midnight started to purr ecstatically, and everyone laughed in amusement.  

Finally, to show off his elemental abilities, Harry created three astonishingly beautiful roses.  Each rose was made out of blue and red fire, somehow trapped in ice, creating a beautiful effect.  What's more, each rose was warm to the touch, instead of cold, and the ice was not melting.  Everyone's breath was taken away at the beautiful objects.

Harry handed Ginny one of the roses, and the other two floated to Matilda and Hermione.  "They will never melt," Harry informed them.  "And they won't break, no matter what you do."  Each woman looked touched by the gift, especially Ginny, who quickly kissed him in thanks.

"If you already know everything that the school can teach you, then why are you still here?" asked Ron.

"Well for a few reasons," replied Harry.  "First of all, I don't want anyone to know that I'm anything but a seemingly extremely powerful wizard.  If I don't stay here at Hogwarts, that illusion will not be accepted.  Secondly, I want to be here to protect the students in case Voldemort decides to attack the school, like he did today.  And finally, I would simply just miss it if I were anywhere else.  I would miss the castle, my friends, my family, Ginny… I would miss it all, I would miss YOU all."  At this, his friends and family smiled at him.

"How many O.W.L's did you get?" asked Hermione, and when everyone looked at her as if she had gone mad, she blushed and added, "well you said that you knew EVERYTHING that Hogwarts can teach you, I was wondering how much you knew beforehand.

"Actually Hermione, did fairly good.  I got at least an Exceedingly Excellent in everything but History of Magic and Divinations," answered Harry, amused.  "I got Outstandings in Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and, surprisingly, Potions.  I got Exceedingly Excellent in Transfigurations, an Adequate in History of Magic, and a Poor in Divinations."

"Do you have a title?" asked Remus, with a frown.  "I mean, everyone calls Dumbledore 'Professor,' or 'Headmaster,' do you have a title that we are supposed to use when addressing you in an official capacity?"

"The answer to your question is a bit complicated," Harry informed her.  "First of all, yes I do have a title.  Professors Dumbledore, and McGonnogall all guessed that it was 'My Lord Arch-mage,' which is close, but not accurate.  While it is true that I am an Arch-mage, I am also the most powerful, as Matilda unknowingly pointed out, and therefore the leader of the Council.  I am also, apparently the descendant of Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Merlin and Morgana le Fey.  Godric and Rowena were both married, even though most people do not know this, as were Merlin and Morgana.  While people know a lot about Merlin, his marriage is not well know at all, in fact, besides the Council, all of you are probably the only living souls that know about either marriages.  Since both Merlin and Morgana were royalty, and I am their sole surviving heir, My title is that of 'Highness.' It would be higher, but since Merlin is still alive, and technically still ruling over Avalon, I am 'just' a prince."  Everyone was looking with stunned, yet prideful expressions on his face.  "That being said, I don't want any of you ever calling me anything but Harry, we know each other too well to get strung up on titles and what not."

"Why was Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw's marriage not included in _Hogwarts, a History_?" asked Hermione, a bit put out that a fact this massive was left out of her beloved book.

Harry tapped his finer on Ginny's soft thigh for a few seconds before answering.  "The four founders decided against publicizing it.  They knew that if anyone found out that a single person was the heir of not only one, but two of the most powerful people in the world, that person would be in danger, so they hid their marriage, and named their children with a different last name.  If you do the research, you will find that the Potter family, sprung up out of nowhere around ten years after the school was opened.  It came as a bit of a shock to me, but Salazar told me that he was the one that told them to do it, that it was the 'smart thing to do.'"

"SALAZAR SLYTHERIN IS AN ARCH MAGE?" exclaimed Ron in surprise.  "I thought you guys were the GOOD guys!"

Harry chuckled.  "All the founders are Arch-mages, and I can assure you that Salazar is NOT evil, he even dislikes Snape, said he was a sorry excuse for a head of HIS house."  At this Remus snorted and Matilda and Ginny giggled.  Hermione was, torn between horror and amusement, was trying to hide a smile, and the Ron was all laughing hysterically.

Once they had settled down again, Harry went on, "Actually Salazar and Godric staged the argument and everything because a Dark Lord was gathering followers, and the Hogwarts founders knew that one of them would have to deal with it personally.  Not wanting to alert the Dark Lord, they pretended to grow apart, and fight, and Salazar 'left in anger after leaving a monster in the chamber of secrets for his heir to find.'  In actuality, Salazar went off to fight, and later defeat the Dark Lord, and he had SEALED the basilisk INTO the chamber, in hopes that it would be trapped there, and die, so that no one would be killed by it."

"How did you learn all of this in a month?" asked Ginny, speaking up finally.

"I didn't," answered Harry, earning confused looks from everyone.

"How long did it take to learn what you learned then?" asked Remus and Matilda at the same time.

"A really long time," Harry replied, earning frowns of confusion from Ginny, Remus, and Matilda.  "Merlin took Avalon outside of time and space," he explained.  "Time inside Avalon moves differently than it does everywhere else.  In fact, there are spells all over the place, so that time from room to room moves differently.  For example, time inside the Council Chamber moves at the same rate as time outside of Avalon, but in the libraries, and other places, years, or even centuries could pass, and only a day or even an hour would pass normally."

"That's why you look so different, so much older," said Hermione.  "It's because you actually ARE older."

Harry nodded.  "Yeah, I'm actually a lot older than I look now, I won't tell you how much.  I'm not complaining though, I received more than you can know because of it.  I got Ginny because of it."

At this, Ginny looked at him, interested.  "How so?" she asked.

"Well, as you know, I didn't receive many letters from Ron or Hermione," Harry said, making both of them look rather embarrassed.  "Well, I DID receive all of your letters, and I found myself reading and re-reading them.  I also sort of spied on you a bit," he added guiltily.  "Never when I shouldn't or anything like that, just looking in on you, all of you actually, well not Matilda, just checking in on your day to day lives, making sure you were all OK.  Anyway, after a while, again I won't tell you how long, I figured out how much I missed you, and I found myself checking in on you more and more, until Circe caught me gazing at you for hours on end.  Boy did I get teased for that!  Anyway, because of the time away, well as it seemed to me, I figured out that I had slowly fallen in love with you," he finished.

As he told her this, Harry had been looking at Ginny, trying to figure out how she was taking this news.  At first, she had been surprised, and she seemed to be a bit annoyed that Harry had spied on her, but that faded as well.  Now she was looking at him, her chocolate brown eyes wide with happiness.  "Remind me to thank the Council whenever I meet them," she said.  At this, the room again dissolved into laughter.

After they had quieted down, everyone noticed that the smell of cooked food was in the room. Looking over at the table Dumbledore had conjured, they saw that dinner had arrived, and that, somehow, twelve chairs surrounded the table, even though it should only be big enough for six.  Looking around, they all agreed, without saying anything, to table the conversation until after dinner.  As they sat down and started passing out food, Remus brought up another topic that had been on everyone's mind.

"Have any of you thought about joining the Order of the Phoenix?" he asked, as he passed the roast chicken to Matilda, who was sitting to his right.

"Yes, I was wondering about that," said Ginny as she helped herself to some roasted potatoes.  "Why is the Order still active?"

"As you know The Order of the Phoenix was formed by Professor Dumbledore to battle the rising threat of Lord Voldemort," answered Remus.  He took a drink of pumpkin juice, and then continued.  "It is a secret organization which several witches and wizards have joined, in hopes that we will be able to defeat the Dark Lord one day.  Because of Fudge's inaction we are not sure if there are Supporters of Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic.  So the Order is still going to head the fight against Voldemort, as it should."

"How effective has the Order been so far?" asked Harry, between bites of chicken.   "Have you had any luck foiling any Death Eater attacks?"

"Well, you haven't heard of any, except the one that you foiled, have you?" asked Matilda.  "Since Severus has been able to spy on Voldemort's movements, we have been able to keep one step ahead of Voldemort.  He probably knows that Severus is a spy now though," she added.  "That's why we weren't alerted to the attack on Hogwarts."

"How DID Snape get into the Order anyway?" asked Ron in disbelief.

"Honestly Ron," chided Hermione, hitting him lightly on the arm.  "The way you speak of him, he's the most evil man alive."

"Actually he is," replied Harry.  When everyone looked at him in surprise, he grinned and added.  "The Council has been betting on when he will sprout horns and a tail ever since they saw him at the welcome back feast."

Everyone laughed at that, then Ginny said, "Well I for one, think I'm going to join.  I like the idea of dealing some grief on back onto Voldemort."  Everyone at the table, who had been invited to join, quickly agreed.

"Oh that reminds me," said Harry suddenly.  "Remind me to go and capture a group of Death Eaters after the meeting."  When everyone looked at him, he reminded them.  "I warned Voldemort not to try and attack my family and friends.  I told him that I would take every attack out of the ranks of his Death Eaters, and that's what I'm going to do!"

"Oh Harry, don't be silly," said Ginny, looking a bit worried.  "You won't be going after Death Eaters, I mean how would you find them?"

"Simple actually," replied Harry calmly.  "I know that there's a group of Death Eaters in the Dark Forest.  I'm going to go take care of them."

Remus, looking alarmed, asked him, "How do you know that?"

"I felt their presence at the attack," answered Harry as he put some more food on his plate.  "I put a tracking spell on them, so that I would be able to find them in case they Disapparated away."

"B-But Harry," said and obviously scared Ginny.  "Won't that be a bit dangerous?"

"Of course it will," said Harry, a dangerous look in his eyes, "for them."

At this, everyone decided to drop the subject, even though Ginny was glancing worriedly at Harry every so often.  Noticing this, Harry said, "Well do you want me to wait until they attack the school again?  Would that make you feel better?"

"I would feel better if you never had to go into a dangerous situation ever again," replied Ginny truthfully.  "I know in my head that you'll be ok, but my heart worries every second that you are away from me"

"Yes, I was thinking about that," said Harry, earning strange looks from everyone there.  "Remus, I think I'll be going with you when you go talk to Professor Dumbledore," he informed them all.

"Why would you want to do that Harry," asked Remus with a frown.

"Well, with everything… the way it is… in the castle right now, I don't think it's safe to let go off alone in the castle.  I'm going to inform Professor Dumbledore that Ginny is going to be skipping a year and joining the sixth years tomorrow," he informed them all, earning surprised looks from everyone there.

"You're going to INFORM HIM?" asked Ron, not sure he had heard right, just as Remus asked, "What do you mean it's not safe in the castle? What things are going on?"

"Yes Ron, I'm going to inform him," replied Harry.  "If need be I'll go over his head on this matter.  And well, to answer your question Remus, I don't exactly know what's going on, yet.  I haven't been able to take a look around yet, but Lily informed me that several things are not as they should be, and when I opened up my senses, I was able to tell that there's something dangerous going on here."

At this eerie pronouncement, everyone was silent for a moment, then Ginny asked.  "How can you go over Dumbledore's head?  He's the Headmaster.  And do you really think I'm ready to be a sixth year?  I mean…I've never even DONE any fifth year spells… I haven't even taken my O.W.L.'s."

"Well, you'll be ready for sixth year by tomorrow," replied Harry mysteriously.  "And I can easily go over Dumbledore's head to the Founders.  If I get a signed document from THEM, there's nothing Dumbledore could do about it, but I really don't think it'll be a problem."

"How are you going to convince him?" asked Hermione.

"I'm going to convince him to let Ginny test out of all her subjects before classes tomorrow," replied Harry with a grin on his face.  "He's got tests in his office that I'll bring back here, and have Ginny take, and then once she passes them, she'll be a sixth year."  Seeing the nervous look on Ginny's face he added, "don't worry, hon, I'll make sure that you are ready for them before you take them."

"How are you going to do that?" asked Ron, a look of unbelief on his face.

"Simply, I'll take Ginny to Avalon after the Order of the Phoenix meeting, and train her there," answered Harry.  "It shouldn't take longer than about an hour or so.  Then, I'll perform the practical sections of the tests, and have Ginny take the written test.  I'll submit the written test, and extract my memories into a pensive for the practical."

"You can take me to Avalon?" asked Ginny, a look of wonder on her face.  "I thought that only the Council of Arch-mages could enter."

"That's true, but any Arch-mage can bring someone into Avalon, they just usually don't," informed Harry with a grin.  "Heck, I'll invite all of you to visit over the summer if you like," he added seeing the excited expressions on their faces.

Before anyone could ask anything else about Avalon, Remus looked at his watch and informed everyone that Harry and the teachers would have to leave soon if they wanted to have time to talk to Dumbledore before the meeting.  Everyone quickly finished eating and got up.  As soon as they had done so, the table, chairs, and everything that was on it disappeared.  Harry quickly said goodbye to everyone in the room, kissed Ginny quickly, then left with the four teachers, promising to tell everyone how the meeting with Dumbledore went as soon as he got back.


	9. The Order of the Phoenix

Chapter 9:  The Order of the Phoenix

Harry wasn't able to talk to anyone about his meeting with the Headmaster, due to the fact that it lasted for several hours.  He had just enough time to go back to his room and change into his dress robes, which Ginny had thoughtfully laid out for him on the bed.  As soon as he had finished dressing, he took Ginny's hand in his, and walked with her to the Gryffindor Commons room.  Waiting for them was Ron and Hermione.  Hermione had thoughtfully cleared the Commons Room early tonight with threats of detention to anyone who argued.  The teenagers all quickly left the Commons Room and made their way silently down to the Great Hall.  Professor McGonnagall was waiting for them.

"Each of you must take hold of this portkey, upon which we will be transported to the Chamber of the Phoenix," she informed them.  Upon hearing this, Harry snorted and muttered something about 'Grandfather's wacky sense of humor.'  Besides Harry, no one made a sound, and after a moment, everyone nervously grabbed the small statue of a phoenix that McGonnagall was holding.  As soon as they touched it, the portkey activated and they were transported to a large room with a circular table.  Sitting before them was a surprisingly large group of people.  The ones that they knew were: Professors Dumbledore, McGonnagall, Black, Lupin, Figg, Stormcloud, Snape, Hooch, and Flitwick, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Diggory, Nymphadora Tonks, and Mad Eye Moody.  There were several that they didn't know.  They also noticed that there was a chair for each of them that was empty.  After studying the golden and red room, which had phoenix statues all over the place, and pictures of phoenixes in flight, and what not around it, they all approached the table.

"Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix," said Dumbledore, his voice reaching to all corners of the room.  "Once you have been formally inducted, you will all be able to enter and exit the room without the use of a portkey.  However, before you are inducted, we must insist that you swear to fight Lord Voldemort and his followers, sacrificing your very lives to the cause if need be," this was said with an extremely serious look on his face that made everyone except Harry glance nervously at each other.  Harry, squeezing Ginny's hand in reassurance, merely looked at Dumbledore, his otherworldly calm radiating from him in waves.  He was the first to speak.

"I have already sworn to fight Lord Voldemort, and any other threat to the wizarding world, no matter the price. I reiterate that vow now," he declared, though his voice was quiet, it reached all corners of the room as well as Dumbledore's had.  "I so swear."

Hearing his calm, reassuring voice, everyone else relaxed and echoed him.  "I so swear," rang out around the room from all of them.

As soon as they had made their promise, Dumbledore walked around the table, and pulled out his wand, stopping in front of Harry.  "Please hold out your right arm, and pull your sleeves back to the elbow," he asked them all.  Everyone did so with the exception of Harry, causing a stir of whispered voices to break out around the room. Dumbledore silenced them all with a glance, and looked back at Harry calmly.  "Harry, this must be done so that you can enter and exit this room, as well as communicate with the members of the Order whenever it is needed," he calmly informed the young man.

"I understand that Professor," Harry replied respectfully.  "I sensed the spells around you and the rest of the members of the Order that I know as soon as I saw the lot of you, whenever that may be," he informed them, earning gasps of surprise from several of the members.  "But the spells you wish to perform will not work on me or anyone else in this group, not if you cast them."

Ignoring the muttering that started again, Dumbledore asked, "And why is that Harry?"

"Because of the protective spells I placed on myself and all the rest of these people Professor," answered Harry.

This, it seemed, was too much for certain members of the Order, namely Snape.  "Oh come off it Potter, not even YOU can be arrogant enough to believe that you are more powerful that Dumbledore, five stunned Death Eaters or not."

"On the contrary Severus," Dumbledore said, coming to Harry's aid.  "If Harry has placed protective spells upon this group of individuals, I COULD NOT break through them, even if I wanted to.  In fact, I doubt anyone could do so."  Turning back to Harry, he asked, "What do you propose that we do Harry, would you be willing to lower your protection?"

Eying Snape, and a few others that were setting off warnings in his head, Harry shook his head.  "No sir," he stated firmly.  "I will, however, cast the spells myself if it is imperative that they be cast," he informed the Headmaster before anyone could protest.

Not acknowledging the sounds of disbelief and anger coming from behind him, Dumbledore merely nodded, and motioned Harry to continue.  Harry, pulled out his wand, and pointed it to his left forearm.  Immediately, without him having to say a word, a golden phoenix tattoo appeared on the inside of his forearm, under his elbow.  Waving his wand at the rest of the students, all of them received identical tattoos in the same place.  Snape, along with most of the rest of the order, looked dumbstruck.  Dumbledore merely smiled at Harry proudly, and motioned the group to take their seats.  

After he had sat down, he spoke again.  "Now then, on to business," he said.  "The first order of business is a group of about thirty Death Eaters who are currently hiding out within the Dark Forest, near the Hogwarts grounds.  They were present at the attack on Hogwarts, and are currently trying to regroup, for what we can only assume is another strike at the castle.  Since Mr. Potter here," as he said Harry's name, he gestured towards him, "has alerted us to their presence, I have decided that he should have the deciding vote what we do about them.  Mr. Potter, what do you think?"

"I want to take them out," replied Harry bluntly.

"Be serious Potter," snapped Snape immediately.  "A group that size is too large for us to contend with at this time, people could be killed.  I suggest we observe them, gather information so that we can repel the attack that they are planning."

"Perhaps you didn't understand me Severus," replied Harry, refusing to call the man a Professor now that he was no longer an active member of the Hogwarts' staff.  "I said that I, as in ME SINGULAR, would take them out.  This is not up for discussion."

Looking around at the surprised looks on the faces of the Order, even Mr. and Mrs. Weasley was surprised at his statement, he went on.  "We are never going to get rid of Voldemort by simply REACTING to HIS plans.  Instead, we must attack HIM.  That is the only way that we will ever make the world safe from him.  I am going to go and show all of you that it can be done, and I am going NOW."  With this, Harry stood up, and began walking away from the table, stopping when Ginny called out to him.

"How will we know what happens?" she asked, then more quietly, "What if you never come back?"

Harry turned and pointed his wand at the table, and a crystal clear sphere appeared in the middle of the table.  "Use this Viewing Globe to watch what happens," he said.  Then he looked into Ginny's eyes and opened his mind out to her, pouring all of his love for her into his gaze.  "I promise I will return to you," he said, then turned, breaking his gaze, and walked out of the now silent room.

"What now," asked one of the members, clearly taken aback by the Boy Who Lived.

"We do as he says and watch," replied Ginny firmly.  Everyone looked at her in surprise, and she said, "Harry promised me that he would return, and I believe him.  Watch and see what he can do," she challenged them.

Everyone turned to the globe and watched as Harry quickly walked out onto the grounds, and into the Dark Forest.  He did not light his wand at all, but seemed to be able to see where he was going without the use of light.  The viewing globe was somehow able to show everyone what was going on, regardless of the darkness.  They all watched Harry quickly and calmly walk through the forest, pausing in places, where he looked to be concentrating on the darkness ahead of him, and then starting again.  He quickly made his way to the edge of the clearing where the Death Eaters were gathered and crouched low, watching them for a few minutes, obviously studying them, and quickly planning out his attack.  Then, to the gasps and shrieks around the room, Harry got up, and calmly strode into the Death Eater's camp.  Immediately he started firing off curses, moving quicker than anyone had thought was possible.  Before anyone could react, he had knocked out ten of the Death Eaters.  Then, dogging spells and curses from the remaining twenty, Harry quickly dispatched with another five with a casual wave of his wand. The remaining sixteen men, seeing who they were fighting against for the first time, resorted to the Unforgivable curses.  Three of them cast Killing spells, which Harry dodged, and the rest of them cast the Cruciatus Curse.  Surprisingly, Harry did not dodge, this, but met the curse head on.  Then, the most impressive thing occurred.  The twelve curses hit Harry at the exact same time, which caused every witch in the room to cry out in horror, but Harry merely stood there, the curse not affecting him in the slightest.  Waiting just enough time for this to sink in, Harry raised his wand again, and cast another spell, this somehow making the curses rebound onto the attacker, all twelve people dropped screaming in pain.  The remaining three, obviously scared, tried to Disappearate, but it did not work.  Harry quickly dispatched them with a waved Stunning Spell, and then quickly went to each of the twelve screaming person and hit them each with a spell.  This made each man stop screaming and drift into unconsciousness.  The entire battle had taken under a minute.  Harry quickly levitated all thirty men, and looked directly at the viewing globe.  "I'm coming back now," they heard.  Harry had somehow projected his voice through the globe, so that they could all hear him.  He then disappeared from their view, all the floating Death Eaters disappearing as well.  He then appeared in the Chamber of the Phoenix with the thirty floating bodies and, with a wave of his wand, calmly set them all down in a corner of the huge room.

The room was silent, almost everyone too shocked to say anything.  Then Ginny, with a smile of relief on her face, jumped out of her chair, ran, and hugged her boyfriend tightly.

"P-Potter, h-how d-did you d-do that?" asked Snape, his face paler than usual, staring in horror at the young sixteen year old who had casually dispatched with thirty powerful Dark Wizards with ease.  "N-No one can take on THIRTY opponents at once, OR block the Cruciatus curse."

"Actually Severus, I didn't block the curse," replied Harry, pulling Ginny towards the table, sinking into his seat again, and pulling her into his lap, hugging her tightly.  Even though he was staring at his one time Potions Professor, he noticed that Bill, Charlie, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were grinning at him and Ginny's casual displays of affection.  "Those curses hit, and I felt the full effects."

This made everyone look at him in disbelief and in horror.  Ginny shuddered in his embrace and looked up at him with concern in her eyes.  "However, I am no stranger to pain.  I've found that I can block pain from my mind, and think and react normally regardless of what my body feels," he said, turning his gaze from Snape to Ginny, and saying directly to her, even though he was talking to the rest of the Order as well, "I'm ok, no side effects, nothing."  He then, to prove his point, kissed his girlfriend and at the same time sent her a whispered thought _I love you._

Breaking the kiss, Harry turned back to Snape, enjoying the dazed look on Ginny's face from the combination of the kiss and his message.  "To answer you're first question, well, as I said before, I am a lot more powerful now than I was before, and I have trained extensively during the summer so that I could be ready to defeat anyone or anything that threatens me or the ones that I love."  This was said with Harry looking directly into Snape's eyes, and the man paled even more and shuddered and the veiled threat in his simple words.

Turning back to Dumbledore, who had calmed himself by this time, Harry asked, "Now that we have taken care of the threat to Hogwarts, what do we need to go over?"

Dumbledore smiled at this, and then said, "Actually Harry, I think we have covered all we will be able to take in tonight thanks to you.  Alastor and the rest of the Aurors will be taking all of these Death Eaters into custody, interrogate them, then make sure that they are tried and sent to Azkaban."

"Actually Professor, that might not be a good idea," said Harry after a moment's thought.  "Since Voldemort has obviously won the Dementors, well at least a large amount of Dementors, to his side, I don't think that Azkaban is safe any longer.  I propose that the Aurors press the Ministry to convict them and sentence them to death."

Dumbledore looked alarmed and surprised at this statement, and then looked to Moody, who was eyeing Harry shrewdly.  Turning to the Headmaster, Moody spoke, "Potter's right Albus," he said.  "Putting them to death would be the better way to go, in fact, we can insist on the death penalty due to the fact that they were leading Dementors against the school."  Then Mad Eye Moody looked over at Harry again.  "At the rate you're going Potter, you're going to be the richest wizard in the world soon."  At Harry's look of surprise, Moody went on.  "After the attack on Diagon Alley, the Minister of Magic put out a bounty on the heads of anyone who dressed or acted like a Death Eater," he informed the Order.  "Said he thought that if the penalty was high enough the Death Eaters might not side with the Dark Lord, personally I think it's foolishness but he did it anyway.  He set the bounty for 10,000,000 galleons a head, thinking that this would stop Death Eater activity."

Harry was dumbstruck for a moment, then said, "D-do you mean to tell me that I'm…"

"Yup," replied Moody cheerfully, "THREE HUNDRED MILLION galleons richer!"

After that pronouncement, most of the Order, obviously shaken by the night's events, left.  The twenty Aurors of the group all quickly bound the still unconscious Death Eaters and took them to the Ministry for processing.  Now, only the Professors, including Snape, the students, and the Weasleys were left in the room.  Dumbledore waived his wand, and the empty chairs disappeared, and the table became much smaller.  All the occupied chairs moved of their own accord until everyone was situated around the table once more.  Ginny, who had recovered from her dazed state, started tickling Harry, making him squirm.  Then she started teasing him.  "You know what Harry?" she asked playfully.  "You're probably going to have to start fighting witches off with a stick, what with four hundred million galleons and all."

"Yeah mate," added Ron.  "You'd probably better keep Ginny with you all the time, or they'll start mobbing you."

Harry muttered something under his breath that probably would have gotten him in trouble with his best friend AND his girlfriend, but they did not hear what he said.

Dumbledore, amused with the way this conversation was going, grinned at Harry and added, "My Harry is THAT why you came to me with your request regarding Miss Weasley?"

Harry, looking around the table for support and not finding any, groaned.  "I think I'm getting a headache," he stated, taking his arms from around Ginny and clutching his head in his hands.

  
Ginny, always one to pay her boyfriend back, quickly said, "Here let me kiss it and make it better."  She then proceeded to grab Harry's dress robes at the neck and roughly pull his face down to hers and kissed him soundly.  Now it was Harry's turn to look dazed.  As everyone around the table, even Snape, laughed at the look on his face, Harry stared around the room in confusion uttering a, "MERHERWIZ?" which of course made everyone laugh even harder.

Finally, after Harry's mind had finally begun to work again, Dumbledore became serious again.  "Molly, Arthur, Harry has approached me with a request to allow young Virginia here to skip her fifth year and start classes with the sixth years.  After he and I discussed this for a while, in which he assured me that your daughter would be caught up by the time classes start tomorrow, and that she would take and pass the O.W.L Equivalency exams in all of her classes, I agreed on the condition that the two of you give your consent."

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry for a moment, and then looked at each other.  After a moment, Mrs. Weasley nodded to her husband, and he looked at Dumbledore and said, "We trust both Harry and Ginny.  We know that Harry would not make this request lightly, and that his reasons for doing this are good ones.  We agree."

Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgement, and turned to Professor McGonnagall.  "Minerva do you have the O.W.L Equivelency tests?" he asked.

"Yes Albus, I do," came her reply.  "I will say, however, that even given Mr. Potter's… special circumstances… I do not think it possible for Miss Weasley to pass those tests before tomorrow morning."  With those words, she produced a thick folder, which Ginny eyed nervously, and passed it over to Harry.

"Now Harry," said Dumbledore.  "I believe that a few of our number deserve the truth about what is going on.  Since you cast the spells of initiation, you know the spells that bind us together as an Order.  Those of us that are here, including all of you new members, are to make up my Inner Circle, and I will NOT have secrets as big as yours standing between us.  I have said it before, and I will say it again we must be united to face this threat.  If we do not put our past differences aside and take up arms together, then darkness will sweep over the world and blot out everything that is right and good."

Harry looked around the room.  The only person who did not know the truth was Professor Snape, the other Professors having left with all the others.  Harry knew that, despite Dumbledore's words, it WAS INDEED possible to betray the Order.  He did not have to be an Arch-Mage to know that.  Peter Pettigrew had betrayed the Order the night that Harry's parents were killed.  Harry gazed into Snape's eyes, and trained every single sense that he had on the man.  He felt Snape's fear and uncertainty, which was surprising.  Harry had assumed that Snape only held contempt for him, but as he gazed into the man's very soul, he saw the truth.  The anger, the contempt, all of it was a smoke screen that Snape had created to cover up his true feelings.  Underneath it all, Snape was a hurt, battered soul, who had very little in the way of friends or comfort.  He desperately wanted to belong, and Harry could sense all that and more.   "Can I trust you?" he asked the man in a soft, searching voice.

"Yes Harry," came Snape's response, just as soft, but tinged with uncertainty and longing, longing to belong, "you can."  Harry finally felt all of the dark emotions that he felt towards the man melt away and, after a quick conversation with the Council, which secured their approval of this man knowing of their existence, Harry nodded in acceptance.

Harry tapped Ginny on the arm, who immediately understood and immediately got out of his lap, allowing Harry to stand before sitting back down in the chair.  For the second time today, Harry revealed himself as an Arch-mage, and showed a bit of his true power and his Staff to the stunned wizard.  Harry also informed everyone about his lineage, and the three forgotten Spell Levels that he was able to cast.  Finally, after demonstrating several of his abilities for Snape's sake, he sat down again, Ginny again sitting comfortably in his lap.

"How did you become an Arch-mage?" asked Snape, once he could find his voice.  Everyone, thinking that he would refuse to answer, was pleasantly surprised when he did.

"Well, after I as taken to the Council Chamber inside Avalon, Merlin had me touch a large glowing Sphere which, put simply, unlocked my abilities, and infused me with power," he said.

"So can any of us become Arch-mages as well," asked Ginny excited at the idea.

"Well… no actually," replied Harry, looking embarassed for some reason.

"What, are we not good enough?" asked Ginny, her temper flaring slightly.

"No, it's not that Gin," said Harry blushing suddenly.  "It's… well it's… just that I sort of broke the Sphere when I touched it." 

"You WHAT?" asked Ron, looking at his friend half in irritation, half in amusement. 

"I broke the Sphere," Harry repeated.  "See it was created to unlock any dormant abilities that you may have, and infuse you with an amount of power that is exponentially greater than the power that you already possess.  Well… apparently I had a bit too many abilities, and a bit too much power to start off with, and it was too much for the globe to handle, so it broke."  Harry looked a bit sheepish at this, and then added, "So it's not anything against any of you or anything, it's just impossible to create Arch-mages any more, I'm the last.

"Well can't they create another one of those… globe thingy?" asked Hermione.  "I mean, SOMEONE had to create it, and since they are obviously on the Council, couldn't they create it again?"

"No," answered Harry.  "The materials and processes to create the Sphere are so complex that it was a one time thing.  The stars, planets, galaxies, and everything else has to be in a PRECISE alignment, and all the materials have to be found at a certain time, in a certain place, under a certain set of conditions.  There's no possible way to create another one."

So what happened then," asked Fred and George together.  Everyone leaned towards him in anticipation, and Harry sighed.  "Fine, Let me just start from the beginning…"


	10. The Change

Chapter 10: The Change

Harry shrugged and put his right hand onto the sphere.  Nothing happened for a few seconds and Harry was beginning to wonder if he was being put on, then out of nowhere it happened.  Harry's world exploded around him.

Harry felt as though his mind was being ripped apart, thoughts and memories that he had treasured more than life itself seemed to be ripped from him, and other thoughts that he wished he would never have to relive were brought roughly to the surface.  He felt as if someone were taking a jagged knife to his mind and soul and carelessly cutting pieces away from him.  Beyond all that was going on mentally and spiritually, his physical pain was even worse.  Harry felt as if he were under the Cruciatus curse, except cast by an infinite number of people, all of them infinitely stronger than anything Voldemort could have ever inflicted on him.  

Harry noticed that someone was screaming louder than anything he had ever heard ever before, the person who was screaming could put the crowd of the Quidditch World Cup to shame.  Then Harry noticed that it was HE that was screaming.  This was his last coherent thought as the pain: physical, mental, and spiritual intensified infinitely.  Harry soon felt himself, everything that made him Harry Potter, his feelings, his memories, everything, slowly slipping away to be replaced by the all encompassing pain that he was experiencing.  

Soon, Harry felt as if he had always felt this pain, that the pain was all that there was in the universe, all that there was, all that there is, and all that there would ever be.  He could not remember a time that he had not felt the pain, and believed that the pain, the white-hot, infinite pain that defined him was all there was to life.  Then, he felt something behind the pain pushing to the surface; it was determination.  

_NO! _it shouted.  _I will not give in!  I will NOT be beaten!  I WILL NOT GO PEACEFULLY INTO THE VOID!  **I DEFY YOU!**_

****

With nothing but sheer determination to defy the pain, Harry fought back.  Through everything he was experiencing, he slowly, painstakingly but resolutely, began putting back together the pieces of Harry Potter, finding pieces that he had believed lost, as well as pieces that he didn't even know was there to begin with.  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Harry finished shrugging off the pain, and he was Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived once more, more complete and truly himself than he had ever been before.

Opening His eyes, Harry saw that he had not moved, his right hand was still on the Sphere, and he was still standing, but the globe looked smaller than it had before, actually everything seemed out of proportion and blurry.  Harry barely noticed this, however, as his physical body protested.  Harry felt awful, worse than he ever had in his life.  His entire body hurt, even his hair, and his throat was so bloody and raw that Harry was sure that he would only be able to speak in a very hoarse whisper for the rest of his life.  Then, suddenly, the Sphere exploded, sending shards of…whatever the substance was, seemingly all into Harry.  What surprised Harry, even more than the exploding sphere, was the fact that he barely registered the pain.  He felt it, but it did not seem to matter any more.  Looking around, he finally noticed that everything was blurry, and opened his mouth to speak.

"Don't try to speak," said a kind female voice.  A redheaded blur got up and slowly approached him, handing him a goblet.  "You damaged your vocal cords by your screaming, and you won't be able to talk at all."  At her words, Harry felt panic seize him.  As if she sensed this, the redheaded woman put a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder and went on.  "This potion will heal your vocal cords, and take care of any other bruises and hurts that you have experienced.  Go ahead and drink it," came her calming voice.  

Harry, deciding that he had nothing to lose and everything to gain, raised the goblet to his lips and began to drink.  Bracing for the pain as the liquid hit his damaged throat, he was pleasantly surprised.  Instead of pain, Harry felt instant relief, in not only his throat, but also everywhere else on his body as well.  Heck, the potion even TASTED good, which was something that NO other potion that Harry had experienced ever achieved.  Harry quickly drained the goblet and smiled his thanks at the blurry woman.

In response she patted his shoulder reassuringly, and said, "Now isn't that better?"  When Harry nodded, she reached up and took his glasses off him.  The room immediately came into focus.  Harry looked down at the stunningly beautiful redheaded woman who was smiling up at him warmly.  "You don't have to worry, you can speak now," she said.

"W-Who are you?" he asked.  "What happened? How did my eyesight change… wait a second, why is everything so out of proportion?"

The woman laughed a musical laugh.  "I am Morgana Le Fey," she answered.  At Harry's slightly horrified expression, she laughed again and added, "ah I see you've heard of me, but not to worry, the stories about me were… inaccurate.  I think that my husband, Merlin, should answer your other questions, however, because quite truthfully I'm not quite sure as to the answers."  Harry looked at her in surprise when he found out that she was, in fact, Merlin's wife.  She looked so young, maybe 21 or 22 at the oldest, and Merlin was… well Merlin was ancient, or at least he had been.  

Sitting in the chair that the old man had occupied was a man who looked surprisingly like Harry.  As Morgana took her seat at the man's right hand again, Harry surveyed the room.  Before, the room had been occupied by extremely old looking witches and wizards, but now, everyone that Harry saw was quite young, 22 years old at the oldest, and quite good looking.  Harry turned his attention to the man that sat before him.  He looked a lot like Harry except with the same startling blue eyes that Harry had noticed before, in his room.  Well… he looked like Harry if Harry had the physique of a Greek god that is.

"Perhaps you should take a look at yourself Harry," said Merlin in amusement.  "You might be surprised at what you see."  At this, Merlin gestured and a mirror appeared in front of Harry, who stared at it in unbelief.  Staring back was a person that Harry did not know.  

Instead of his normal short, skinny reflection, Harry saw a 22-year-old man standing six foot five inches tall who had the body of… well… a Greek god.  His hair was long, falling past his shoulders, and his eyes were the most startling emerald green that Harry had ever seen.  What was more impressive was the fact that this man radiated power in waves.  It was not anything physically visible, but just looking at him, you could tell that this man had an infinite amount of power at his disposal.  His stance was strong and confident, that of a fighter, and his bearing was of the power and authority of a natural leader, the man that stared back at Harry Potter, that WAS Harry Potter, was an extremely dangerous man.

After a few moments, which Harry stared at his new self, he looked back at Merlin, who looked a great deal more like him now that Harry had had a chance to see himself, and the mirror vanished.  "To answer your questions, what you just went through was an ordeal that all of us have had to go through, well… all but the last.  It is called the Test of Pain, and it was created for the sole purpose of unlocking your true potential.  The sphere that you placed your hand on is…well… was known as the Sphere of Power.  It was created to unlock all your talents, and infuse you with power.  Before it can do this, however, you must pay the price."

"The Test of Pain," said Harry, knowing exactly what the price was.

"Yes," replied Merlin.  "If you are not the right type of person to become an Arch-mage, if you do not have the character, courage, will, and determination, the Pain would take you, and you would not be able to stand it.  It would drive you mad, and finally kill you.  

It is said," he added after a moment, "that the more powerful the wizard who is to become an Arch-mage, the worse the Pain is.  That theory has not been totally proven until today.  No other Arch-mage has ever had to face a Test of Pain worse than my own, and no other Arch-mage is as powerful as I am," here he paused for a moment.  "That changed today," he informed Harry, who looked at him in surprise.  "The Test of Pain that you went through would have broken any and all of us, and was infinitely more than anything any of us has had to face.  However, you are also now infinitely more powerful than any of us are, or actually all of us combined are, so you see that old myth had truth to it after all."

Harry took this news in silently.  After a few moments thought, he spoke, "And the changes?"

"Your physical transformation was a by-product of the infusion of power by the Sphere.  You're body needed to be changed in order to control the amount of power you now possess."

"In other words, you are just going to have to deal with being a stud for the rest of your unnaturally long life," added Morgana, a note of teasing in her voice.

Harry, ignoring her teasing manner, noticed something else.  "Unnaturally long life?" he asked.

"You no longer age," answered the man to Merlin's left, Godric Gryffindor.  "You, like all of us here, will look exactly as you do now, right after your transformation into an Arch-mage for as long as you live."

"So I'm immortal?" asked Harry in disbelief.

"No you can be killed, even though it is extremely hard to do so, and in your case I doubt that the entire wizarding world would be able to do such a thing, even with all of us helping," informed Merlin.  "You will just never age."

"But I saw you as an old man before," countered Harry with a frown of confusion on his face.  "In fact, I saw all of you as old witches and wizards before."

"Yes, well, we felt like we should act the part of the ancient and powerful Council when you came in," replied Morgana with an impish grin on her face, "Thought it would make for a better effect on you."

Harry chewed over this bit of information for a while, and then looked around at the group of 100 or so witches and wizards.  "So, what now?" he asked.

"Now," replied Merlin suddenly serious, "you must be trained."

"Trained?" asked Harry.

"Yes," replied Godric.  "There is a lot that you must know before you return to the world, which we must impart to you: knowledge about your powers, and your limits just to name a few.  You must also create your Staff."

"My Staff?" questioned Harry, looking around.  He then noticed that each man and woman had a Staff, which was leaning on their chair.  Each Staff was different, obviously according to each person's preference, but every Staff was magnificent.  "Let me guess, the final thing that I need to do before I become a member is create a Staff, right?"

"Right," informed Merlin.  "Now then, let's get started."

Harry quickly found out how little he truly knew about magic.  The Four Hogwarts founders were his first teachers.  Each one taught him everything that was taught in Hogwarts.  They started back at the first year level, and this time, went explained everything in a lot more detail than he had ever heard before.  Harry had little to no free time.  Whenever he was awake, he was receiving some type of training, whether it was Godric teaching him to duel, with a wand and with a sword, or whether it was Rowena teaching him Charms or Helga teaching him Arithmancy and Divinations, he was always learning.  What surprised Harry was that, no matter how hard he was pushed, he was never pushed over the edge, and he retained everything that he learned.  In fact, his memory was perfect.  

Once he was finished with the Hogwarts material, he was trained in more advanced magic.  Every single Arch-mage assisted in his training.  Circe, Merlin, Morgana, Romulus, Remus, Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, Thor, Odin, Ra, and Callisto were only a few besides all four Hogwarts founders.  Over the long time, Harry was never sure how long, but it seemed like centuries, he quickly learned all there was to know about magic.  He poured through volumes upon volumes of material, finishing every single book that the Hogwarts' library owned, including those in the restricted section, early in his studies.  He also poured through grimories on all the Sorcerer Level magic and above.  Finally, when he had learned all he could without it, he was ready to begin the creation of his Staff.  

By now, Harry knew all about the purpose of a magical focus, even though he could now wandlessly and wordlessly perform almost all spells up to and including several Mage Level spells.  A wand, which was what the rest of the wizarding world used, was not powerful enough to support anything about the Sorcerer Level, so a Staff was needed.  

Before he began creating his Staff, Harry decided to take a break.  He had been studying, for so long, that he had forgotten that he was supposed to be a sixteen year old boy.  He created a Viewing Globe, to check in on his friends.  He had done this several times during his stay in Avalon, but only extremely briefly, and usually right before he fell asleep, exhausted.  This time, however, Harry decided to study them, watch them as they lived their everyday lives, and remember who he had been before coming to Avalon and becoming Harry the Arch-mage.  Harry had received a few letters from his friends, mostly from Ginny Weasley, who Harry had enjoyed writing to immensely.  When he checked on his friends, he also decided to check on her as well.  What he saw astounded him.  Gone was the blushing girl that he knew, and instead, as if she had gone through just as dramatic a change as Harry had, there was a stunningly beautiful woman in her place.  Harry watched as she went about her everyday life, noticing how graceful her movements were, and how she now seemed to fill out her robes in all the right places.  He watched her in desperation, knowing that they both now lived in different worlds and that, even though he wished it was different, she could be nothing more than a friendly acquaintance.

It was at that time that Circe walked into his suite of rooms in Avalon and caught him gazing hungrily at the Viewing Globe.

"Who is she?" asked Circe, startling Harry from his vigil.

"Ginny Weasley," he answered mournfully.  "She's my best friend's little sister, and she and I have exchanged letters since my birthday.  I wanted to get to know her better, and become her friend."

"That's not all you want is it?" asked Circe, looking at Harry who looked extremely pitiful at the moment, her mission of finding out how much Harry had done totally forgotten.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry, a bit confused.  "Not all I want?  It doesn't matter what I want, does it?  I mean, I'm here now, an Arch-mage, and she's out there," he finished sadly.

"Harry that's idiocy," said Circe, sitting down beside him.  "I saw you a few minutes ago, how long have you been watching her?"

"All day," came his quiet reply.  
  
"Harry, you're in love," Circe informed him.  When he looked like he was about to deny it, she held up her hand.  "Don't argue with me on this Harry, I KNOW when someone is in love, and you've fallen for this Ginny bad."  At this, Harry hung his head, knowing that the tan, dark haired female Arch-mage was speaking the truth.

"It doesn't matter if I love her or not," replied Harry.  "It would never work out between us.  I'm an Arch-mage, and she isn't.  And thanks to me, she will never have the chance to become one either."  Harry had found out that the Sphere of Power was not supposed to have shattered and be absorbed into him.  The Council had actually been astounded to find out about that, knowing that the Sphere contained a nearly infinite power source that could recharge so quickly, it might as well BE infinite.  They had quickly discovered that Harry inherited both the nearly infinite power of the Sphere, and its recharge time.

"Harry," said Circe.  "It doesn't matter whether or not you are an Arch-mage or not, and it doesn't matter how long you have spent here studying.  When you return to the wizarding world, you will still be a sixteen year old boy, no matter how much you have grown up here.  If you love that girl and do nothing about it, no matter how long you live, you will regret it.  I know this because I did that very thing."

At this revalation, Harry looked at the beautiful woman in surprise.  "You fell in love with someone, but didn't do anything about it?" he asked.

Circe nodded," and every single day I regretted not following my heart," she said.  "You see Harry; you will find that everything, the power, the knowledge, the wisdom, it all counts for nothing in the end.  You can chose to forget about your emotions, and simply exist, as I once did, but you will not truly be alive, or you can acknowledge your emotions and deal with them, and find a life for yourself, regardless of the challenges that you will have to face along the way.  That is the correct choice, trust me."

"How do I even know if there's something between us, Circe?" asked Harry, deciding that he had to deal with his emotions and not run away from them, they were a part of him as much as his power and knowledge were.  "I don't even know if she feels the same way."

"I'm quite confident that anyone who was able to capture your heart is smart enough to know how great a catch you are Harry," replied Circe with a gentle smile.  "And if she doesn't feel the same way as you do, send her to me and I'll turn her into a newt."

At this Harry had to chuckle, and he hugged Circe in thanks.  Circe hugged him back, then told him that she would inform the rest of the Council that he was busy and not to be disturbed, she then left.

Harry, after gazing at Ginny for a few more minutes, quickly checked up on the rest of his family and friends.  He even looked in on the Dursleys to make sure that they were ok.  After making sure that everyone was safe and happy, Harry turned back to his task of creating his Staff.

He knew that his staff was supposed to be a representation of him, as well as a part of him.  He thought about who and what he was, before and after his transformation.  After glancing at Ginny's face in the Viewing Globe one last time, he knew what he had to do.  He went into his bedroom and found Lily sitting on her favorite perch.  Harry told her what he was doing, and asked her if he could pluck a few of her tail feathers, as well as several of her other feathers as well.  Considering this, Lily gave her consent, and allowed Harry to pluck the three largest tail feathers that she had, and several large white feathers from her wings.  Waiving his wand, Harry quickly grew new feathers for his loving phoenix, and walked back into his workroom, followed by his now curious phoenix.  Harry studied the phoenix feathers intently, and then glanced at his reflection.  Circe had told him to trust his emotions, and this just FELT right.  Harry began to construct his Staff.

Harry took the largest phoenix feather and Shaped it into a long staff made of cherry wood.  Unlike Transfiguration, Shaping allowed the object to retain its magical properties.  Harry then took the second largest feather and Shaped it into a golden phoenix in flight, and finally took the last tail feather and shaped it into a golden spike with a hole at the other end.  He then fit the spike and the phoenix onto opposite ends of the Staff.  Harry then turned to the several white feathers.  He Shaped two of them into small rubies, which he put into the phoenix's eye sockets to create glowing red eyes, and Shaped another of the feathers into a large spherical ruby.  He then placed the rest of the feathers INTO the rubies making them glow.  He put the glowing rubies in open beak and eye sockets of the phoenix, and took hold of his Staff.   

Opening himself and directing his magic, he slowly and carefully poured his magic into and around his Staff, changing a bit here, fusing a piece to another there, and finally with a quick slice of his dagger across his wrist, bonding it with him using a blood bond.  He collected a fairly large amount of blood into a bowl before healing his wounded wrist with a thought.  He then cast a quick spell to replace the blood that he had lost, so that he would not feel weak or faint, and then turned back to his task.  

He carefully sprinkled blood over each part of the now constructed staff, and then poured the rest of his blood INTO the ruby, making it glow even brighter.  When he was done, he touched his Staff with his magic again, and a blinding light flashed within the room as the magical focus was finished.  Harry looked at the finished product in surprise.  

The cherry wood body was polished to a shine and intricately carved with lions, eagles, phoenixes and holly leaves.  About a third of the way down, this chain of carvings was broken by the seal of the Gryffindor/Potter family: A shield with a large phoenix with its wings spread, and a rampant lion inside the phoenix, the phoenix was surrounded by a wreath of holly leaves.  On the opposite side of the Staff was the seal of Avalon.  The gold spike and phoenix glittered as if polished as well, and Harry knew that, no matter what, no part of his Staff would ever lose its shine.  The rubies that made up the phoenix's eyes, as well as the ruby in its beak glowed brightly.  Harry grinned as he picked up his Staff; it was perfect.

Harry's life quickly became hectic again.  The Council were all extremely pleased by the beautiful Staff that Harry had created, and were all surprised as to how powerful it truly was.  They also found out that Harry was the only one able to use or even touch the Staff due to the strong blood bond that Harry had created with the magnificent magical focusing tool.

Harry soon began learning Mage Level spells as his training took off again.  He was able to find time, however, to check on his friends and family, who he found himself missing dearly, especially Ginny Weasley.  Once Harry finished Mage Level magic, he immediately jumped into Arch-Mage Level magic.  By the third week of August within the wizarding world, Harry had learned all he could from the Council, and had been initiated as a member, and given the title of Arch-Mage.  

Merlin also informed him as to his royal lineage, and informed him of the fact that he was actually a Prince.  Morgana, who acknowledged him as a son, even though there were several centuries between her and Harry, gave him several sets of clothes: dress robes, work robes, every day robes, and muggle clothing, all impeccably made and all of which fit Harry perfectly for the first time in his life.  

Godric and Rowena also took Harry aside and informed him of several protected places that they had stored the bulk of their wealth, telling Harry that since he was their only heir and they had no need for the money, that it was his.  Harry was surprised at this, believing that the fortune within his Gringots vault was the remains of their vast fortune.  They had smiled and informed him that the sum of money that started that fortune within his vault was barely scratching the surface, and that he should not be surprised if he was the richest man in the world.  

Finally, Circe took Harry aside as he had finished packing and shrunk his trunk and slipped it into his pocket.  She encouraged Harry to share his feelings towards Ginny as soon as possible.  Once Harry was ready, he said goodbye to the Council, knowing that he wasn't really leaving, since they could all sense whatever any of the others were sensing, as well as hear each other's thoughts, regardless of the distance.  He then Apparated to Diagon Alley and began to look for the one person that meant more to him than anything else at that point in time: Ginny Weasley.


	11. A Midnight Meeting

Chapter 11: A Midnight Meeting

After he finished everyone what happened to him the last month of school, there was silence for several minutes.  Looking around, Harry saw tears streaming down every female's face, even Professor McGonnagall.  All the men were looking at him in shock, fear, and admiration, even Snape.  Ginny, who had simply sat on his lap and listened to him tell his story, finally broke the silence.

"You must have been so lonely," she said, a quiver in her voice.  "All of us thought that you had only been gone from us for a few months, but for you… it was…"

"Millennia," replied Harry quietly.  "I calculated it before I left, and I spent 7,000 years there."

"Oh Harry Dear," said Mrs. Weasley.  "If we had known… we would have… done SOMETHING…"

"It's OK Mrs. Weasley," said Harry with a small smile.  "It was my choice to stay there, I could have left at any time, but I wanted to finish what I set out to do."

"Harry, if we had known, we would have sent more letters…" said Hermione, Ron just nodded in agreement."

"I'm telling you it's fine, I'm fine, I'm better than fine I'm-,"

"You're immortal," broke in Ginny, looking at him with an expression on her face that Harry could not define, and yet caused his insides to freeze in terror.  "You'll never age," she went on.  "I'll get older and older and you… you'll…."

"I will always love you," replied Harry firmly, understanding what had Ginny worked up so much.  "Plus, it's not as if becoming an Arch-mage is the only way to stop aging," he said.  At this Ginny looked at him hopefully.

"IS there some way that I could…that you could…"she couldn't finish the question, even though Harry knew what she was asking.

"Well…" Harry hesitated, looking around the room before answering.  Ron and Hermione were looking at Harry with just as much hope in their eyes.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were looking at Harry and Ginny with just as much hope, but it was hope that the two of them would be able to get over this crisis, not hope for themselves.  Oddly, Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George mirrored Mr. and Mrs. Weasley instead of Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.  Matilda and Remus looked at Harry silently supportive, not thinking at all for themselves.  Professors Snape and McGonnagall looked just as hopeful as Ron and Hermoine for some reason.  Professor Dumbledore just seemed interested in what Harry had to say.  "There IS a way… a few in fact…"

"But they are all extremely dangerous," he went on, looking into Ginny's eyes.  

"I'm willing to take the risk," she said immediately.  

"Gin, wait," said Harry quickly.  "Listen to the risk first before you decide anything, please."  When she nodded after a moment, he went on.  "The first, and most safe way would be for either you or I to create a Sorcerer's Stone, like Nicolas Flamel did.  The problem with that, is that it could easily be stolen, no matter where it is kept, and if that happens, you would die within a month of your last dose, because the Elixer of Life, while making you stop aging, becomes a poison if you do not keep on taking doses of it."  Ginny had looked hopeful, but had quickly become dejected again, agreeing that this was too much of a risk, especially if someone else got a hold of her Sorcerer's Stone.  

"The second way would be for me to cast spells on you taking you outside of time, which I could easily do," at her hopeful expression, he added, "I won't however, because it's only a fifty/fifty chance that it will work.  If I cast the spells, it will EITHER cause you to not age, OR cause you to age at such an accelerated rate that you would die of old age before even I had the chance to stop the spell.  I'm not willing to risk that, not with you and NOT if it means that you could die."  Again, Ginny's hopeful expression was shattered when she heard that Harry refused to cast the spell.

When Harry did not go on, Ginny frowned.  "Didn't you say 'a few' ways?  Is there another way?" she asked.  When Harry reluctantly nodded, she pressed him.  "What is it?  Why won't you tell me?" she asked, feeling hurt that Harry would try to hide any possible way that they could be together for the rest of their lives.

Harry sighed.  "First of all, no matter how simple this sounds, it's actually very complex, and could go wrong in so many ways that I can't even get into it.  It is also an extremely dangerous and extremely painful process," he warned her.

"That's ok, I trust you Harry," she said, trying to encourage him.

He looked helplessly into her chocolate brown eyes, losing himself in their depths.  _I can deny her noghting.  I love her too much.  _After another sigh, he went on.  "I can't even believe that I am suggesting this," he informed her, the rest of the Inner Circle, and the Council of Arch-mages all at the same time.  "What I am proposing, PROPOSING ONLY so don't smile yet love, is that I… bond myself to you."

"Bond yourself?" asked Dumbledore, "In what way?"

"Well, in layman's terms I would be 'putting a piece of me inside of her,'" replied Harry, then gazing at Fred, George, Ron, Bill, and Charlie he added, "don't even think about the double meaning to those words, unless you want to spend the rest of you lives finding out how a mushroom's existance is like FIRST HAND."  Seeing all of them pale slightly, Harry looked back at Ginny to find a confused frown on her face.

"Why wouldn't you want to do that?" asked Ginny.

"Well besides, causing you an unnatural amount of pain, which I couldn't even guess as to how much you would receive?" asked Harry.  At Ginny's nod he answered her.  "First of all, the Pain.  IF you receive the Test of Pain instead of the pain that I am thinking you will go through, then you could lose your mind, or even die from the pain.  Second of all, this has never been tried before, so I have no clue as to whether it would work or not, and finally it will almost definitely have… side effects."  
  
"Side effects?" asked Mrs. Weasley worriedly, "What kind of side effects."

"Well, hopefully it will have the obvious side effect of making Ginny stop aging like me," began Harry.  "But it could also do anything from make her a stronger witch to take all her powers away and make her a squib. Now do you know why I didn't want to mention this idea Gin?" he asked.  "It's really just a shot in the dark, since the other two wouldn't work."

Ginny thought about this for a while.  She looked from Harry's face for the first time since he had told her that he would not age, and looked over at her parents.  Her mum and dad were looking quite pale, obviously frightened by the idea of loosing their only daughter.  She then turned to her brothers.  Bill and Charlie were just as pale as her parents, but both smile at her, telling her that they would back her no matter what she chose.  Fred and George looked surprisingly grim, but Ron was the big surprise.  Ron was grinning at her and nodding his head in support of her taking the risk.  That decided it for her.  If Ron of all people could be supportive of this, it had to be the right thing to do.  She looked back at Harry whose gaze had not left hers for a moment.  "I want you to do it," she told him simply.

Harry closed his eyes in silent despair, knowing that he could deny her nothing, but fearful as to what would happen.  _I don't know if I can do this_.

**_*Harry, we will be with you every step of the way*_** said a concerned Morgana, her motherly instincts coming into play.  ***_If there is any mistake in your spell, we'll catch it before it becomes a problem*_**

_That's not what I'm afraid of Morgana_, replied Harry.  _I know I can cast the spell without any problems._

**_*Then what is the problem?*_** asked Artemis.

_I don't know if I can bear loosing her_, he replied.  _I know that we've only been together for only a little bit, but I love her._

**_*Then be willing to fight for her*_** said Circe softly**.  _*If you don't fight for her, and take this risk, you will lose her.  Don't worry, you KNOW that this will work, or you wouldn't have suggested it Harry.  Trust in yourself and in your abilities, all of us do.*_**

With Circe's encouragement fresh in his mind Harry opened his eyes and gazed into the chocolate brown eyes of the girl he had come to love with all his heart.  He sighed and nodded his acceptance.  He then kissed her softly, memorizing every single second of it: every taste, smell, touch, feeling, everything.  He then pulled back from the kiss.  Ginny was staring at him with all her love for him in her eyes.  Harry picked her up, got out of the chair, and put her back in it.  He then crouched down on the floor before her and took her hands.  "This is probably going to hurt a lot," he warned her again.  When she nodded in understanding, Harry focused inside of him, feeling the magic and shaping it into the spell that he wanted to cast, then drew it up and out studying it, making sure that every level of complexity was correct, that it was perfect, not lacking anything.  While Harry was studying the spell, he began to see similarities between what he was doing and what he remembered his Transformation being like.  Harry felt strange, knew knowledge and understanding flood into his mind.  He processed it immediately, changing his origional spell into something else, something powerful and complex.  When he was sure that it was what he wanted, Harry cast the spell.

As soon as the spell was cast, Ginny began to scream.  It was an extremely loud, piercing, painful scream that ripped at Harry's heart.  Knowing that she would probably need one of Morgana's potions Harry let go of Ginny's hands and stood up.  _Morgana?_ he called. 

**_*I'm already pouring the potion Harry*_** came her loving reply**_.  *It'll appear on the table in about five seconds*_**

True to her word, in about five seconds a large goblet full of a clear, amber colored liquid appeared as if out of nowhere.  At almost the same time, Ginny stopped screaming abruptly, and sank further into the chair, boneless.  Harry quickly grabbed her hand, and felt at her wrist.  She still had a pulse.

"IS she?" asked Hermione in a shaking voice.  
  


"She's alive," answered Harry, earning sighs of relief around the room.  "For now," he added softly, almost to himself.  He kept his gaze on Ginny, all his senses focused on her and nothing else.  Every few minutes, he would check her pulse, which was always present, but that did not help his feelings of anxiety.  Harry knew that she could just as easily awaken, and be a mindless vegetable should she not stand the pain that was still coursing through her body.  Abruptly, everyone except for Harry gasped.  Ginny began to change.

First, it was slow, but then it began to speed up.  First, Ginny began to get noticeably taller, and her figure even more rounded than it had been.  Her breasts got larger to that of a C cup, and her face grew older, until she looked to be a match in age for Harry.  Her hair, which had been slightly over shoulder length, quickly grew longer, until it was down to her hips.  All in all, she looked like she became the Greek goddess to Harry's Greek god. 

Harry did not relax when he saw the change.  He knew that this was the most crucial time, which would either make the spell succeed or fail.  He waited until Ginny's aura started to change.  It began to brighten with new strength as the large amount of power that Harry had infused Ginny with began to show.  Even though Harry had already gained back the power that he gave her, he knew that Ginny was now the most powerful witch alive.  She was equal in power to Merlin; Harry had carefully planned that part of the spell, forever changing her into something that he had thought it impossible for her to ever become.  As Harry watched, he saw several of her gifts blossom to life within Ginny.  She soon had all the known 'special' wizarding gifts, as well as some that were not known any longer.  He saw her telepathic gift, which was not as powerful as his, was about normal for the Council.  She also seemed to be a Beast-Speaker as well as a feline Shifter, which meant that she could become any type of animal related to the feline species, including all types of griffins.  Her scanning talent was above that of a Scanner, but was not as powerful as his.  She also looked to be able to perform Air and Water Elemental Magic.  She did not, however, develop Harry's empathic talents, nor his SoulGazing talents.  Even as he noticed this, Harry still did not relax.  He still felt the large amount of pain coursing through her body, and he knew that if she took much more, she would be in danger of either losing her mind or dieing.

Right when it looked like it would be too late, when a second more would have tipped her over the point of no return, Harry felt Ginny take control of the pain and brush it off.  Leaning down to check her pulse, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, and looked around with a relieved grin on his face.  "She's O.K," he informed everyone.  As one, they all let out sighs of relief as well.  Harry turned back to Ginny in time to see her eye's flutter open.  Chocolate brown eyes gazed lovingly up into his emerald green.  Harry saw what no one else did, however: that her eyes were clouded with intense pain.  She opened her mouth, but Harry stopped her.

"Don't speak," he said quickly.  She obediently closed her mouth.  "You damaged your vocal cords when you screamed," he informed her, placing the goblet full of Morgana's potion in her hand.  "Drink this, it'll make you feel better."  Ginny wrinkled her nose at the idea of drinking any type of potion at the moment, but then raised it to her lips and took a tentative sip.  Her eyes showed her surprise, and she quickly drained the goblet, which immediately disappeared as soon as she had finished.

"You weren't joking when you said that potion tasted good," she said with a grin.  "That tasted better than any drink I've ever had!"

Harry grinned back at her, and then surveyed her again.  "It worked," he informed her.  "You'll no longer age." At that, she yelped in surprise and happiness and jumped up from her chair wrapping her arms around Harry's neck and hugging him close.  Then, as she noticed her physical changes for the first time while pressed tightly against Harry's body, she jumped back.

"Harry, Mirror, NOW" she commanded.  Harry chuckled, and a mirror appeared in front of her, showing her the physical changes that occurred.  To put it simply, she had become a hottie literally overnight.

She had grown a bit, and was now five foot nine inches.  Her Breasts were noticeably larger, somewhere around a C cup, and her legs, looked as if they went on forever.  Harry noticed, with some amusement that her dress robes had automatically fit themselves to her new body.  Her hair was wondrous.  Still the fiery red that it had always been, it now fell in waves to her below her slender waist, past to her shapely thighs.  In other words, she had gone from being very beautiful to extremely gorgeous.

Looking back at Harry, the mirror disappeared and she asked, "Did you do this?"

"That among other things, yes" he answered, then seeing her face begin to get angry for some reason, he added, "But it wasn't intentional.  It was one of the side effects that I mentioned."  This seemed to pacify her.  Then, she grinned impishly, stepped close to him again, stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him, wrapping her arms around his neck.  Harry's arms snaked around her slender waist, and he pulled her even tighter to him.

_I think we are going to have to have another night of 'get acquainted with each other's bodies' night_, he sent to her as they kissed.

You know what?  I think you just might be right.  Merlin's Beard Harry, did you have to make my nipples so sensitive?  I'm going crazy just rubbing up against you!

_Fair enough,_ he replied, still kissing her.  _I've been going crazy whenever you rubbed up against me for days._  At this she laughed silently.  Finally they broke apart and she turned to everyone else, still in Harry's embrace.  She playfully grinded her shapely behind into his crotch, making him stifle a moan.

"Well, what do you think of the new me?" she asked looking around.  Everyone had equal looking around.  Everyone had equal amounts of shock and amazement on their faces, even Dumbledore and Snape.

"Depends," said Bill, a sly grin sneaking on his face.  "Does the new you still steal socks?"

"Yes," she nodded with an innocent look on her face.

Fred sighed an exaggerated sigh, "I guess you'll do," he said.

Mrs. Weasley shot him a glare, and then smiled at her daughter.  "Ginny dear, you look wonderful!" she said.

"Her look's isn't all that's changed," Harry informed the group.  Ginny turned around again and stepped back a step so she could look at him.

"What do you mean, what else has changed?" she asked, a bit nervously.

Harry grinned mischievously.  "Well remember all that stuff about no one else ever being able to become an Arch-mage because I destroyed the Sphere of Power and pretty much got an infinite amount of power?" She nodded, now looking alarmed and confused.  "Well I cheated," he informed.

"Cheated?" she asked, still confused.

Harry nodded.  "Cheated," he repeated.  "Welcome to the Council of Arch-mages."

The meaning of Harry's words took a second to sink in, then, "WHAT?" cried out everyone.

Harry grinned again, even more mischievous than before, and explained, "Well, since I had to put a part of myself in her anyway, I decided that I might as well go all the way and put a portion of my power into Ginny as well.  Since I had already talked myself into doing that, I figured I might as well go for the gold and give her enough power to become an Arch-mage."

"How powerful IS she?" asked a stunned Snape.

Harry's grin widened, and if possible became filled with even more mischief.  "Oh not that powerful really," he said casually, waiting for everyone to breath a sigh of relief, then added, "She's just around as powerful as Merlin making her the most powerful witch in existence."

This shocked everyone that was listening, INCLUDING the Council of Arch-mages, who were clamoring in his head so much, that Harry simply shut off his connection to them for a few moments, then reestablished it, noticing that they were being quite silent.

"B-But won't that make you a lot weaker," asked a worried Hermione.

"No," replied Harry.  "I've already gotten the power back that I gave to her, quick recharge, remember?"

At this, no one knew quite what to say.  Harry, glancing at his watch, looked over at Dumbledore.  "Professor, since all of us, which include a large number of your Staff, have all stayed up until three in the  morning, and considering the fact that tomorrow is Friday, and the students really wouldn't learn anything that they would retain anyway, don't you think it might be a better idea to cancel classes tomorrow, and resume them on Monday?" he asked.

Dumbledore looked at Harry suspiciously, "Why do you ask Harry, and what else do you want?"

Harry grinned  "Oh I just thought that if we had the extra day off, I could take Ginny to Avalon and have her get caught up on her studies, as well as meet the rest of the Council," he answered.

Dumbledore sighed in defeat.  "Very well, I guess your suggestion is a wise one.  Classes will start Monday morning," he said.

"Thank you Professor," said Harry.  "Now then, I believe that the night's adventure has tired me out a bit.  I think I am going to go back to my room.  Ginny?  Do you want to come along?" he asked, holding out his hand for her, a mischievous glint in his eye.  Grinning impishly, Ginny took his hand.

"Why yes Harry, I think I DO feel a bit tired now that you mention it," she answered, and with that, Harry Apparated them straight to their room.

"B-But you c-can't Apparate on Hogwarts' grounds!" exclaimed Hermione, stating the fact that everyone knew, but that Harry and Ginny seemed to have just ignored.

"I don't believe that they care whether you can or cannot do it Miss Granger," said a pale, extremely shell-shocked Professor McGonnagall.  "They did it anyway."


	12. Avalon and a Surprise

Chapter 12: Avalon, and a Surprise

As soon as Harry and Ginny returned to their room, Harry reached into the air and somehow pulled forth his magnificent Staff.

"How do you do that?" asked Ginny, as she watched him do this.  "Where does your Staff go whenever it disappears like that?"

"Well my Staff can take on several different appearances," replied Harry, looking around the room for something.  "It can appear as my signet ring that you saw the day of the trial."  At his words, Ginny's eyes quickly dropped from Harry's to his right hand, noticing for the first time that Harry was not wearing his signet ring.  "Or it could take the form of my phoenix chain, which you also saw at the day of the trial, as well as several other seemingly innocent things.  It can also turn invisible, which is what happened when I let go of it down in the Chamber of the Phoenix."

"So it was just floating beside you, invisible to everyone that whole time?" she asked.  Harry nodded absently, still looking around the room. "What ARE you looking for?" Ginny finally asked somewhat annoyed.

"I'm looking for the correct place to cast a spell to slow time down in here a little," Harry said, still looking around.  Then he stopped and looked over at Ginny grinning.  "Just because everyone else isn't going to get much sleep, if any, doesn't mean that WE have can't have a perfect night's sleep."  Then his eyes widened, and he slowly strode over to where Ginny was standing, "Move over, you're standing on the spot I was looking for."

Ginny, looking somewhere between amused and annoyed at her boyfriend, quickly moved and sat down on their couch, watching him.  This time, the spell that Harry cast was not wordless.  In fact, it seemed extremely complicated.  Harry stood in the spot that Ginny was standing in, and faced the corner of the room, muttering words in a language that Ginny could not quite catch.  She saw the corner of the room that he was facing start to glow a gold color.  As soon as this happened, Harry turned around 180 degrees and did the same for the opposite corner, with the same effect.  He then repeated this for the other two corners, and then faced the doorway leading out into the Gryffindor Commons room.  The door began to glow silver, and Harry quickly repeated this for the bathroom, and the closet doors, and then pointed his Staff at their alarm clock and muttered a word that caused the clock to start glowing a bright blue.  Once he had finished this, Harry turned to face an extremely interested Ginny and grinned at the look on her face.  He then slammed his Staff onto the ground, making a bright golden light spring forth from it, and cover all the walls, ceiling, and floor of their room, then all the lights and glows instantly disappeared.  Ginny's mouth was open in surprise. 

"How different is the time in here?" she asked.

"Not much," replied Harry, "and the spell only lasts for a few hours in real time, just long enough for time to right itself by around seven o'clock.  There's a Three to One ratio time difference in this room now, which means that instead of having four hours to sleep, we've now got twelve."  Harry raised his Staff again which glowed briefly before he let go of it, and making it disappear again.

"What did you do this time?" asked Ginny.

Harry grinned mischievously.  "I put a silencing spell around the room," he answered.

At this, Ginny, with an exaggerated look of innocence on her face, asked, "And why would we need that?"

"Oh, well," said Harry, his grin widening, "I figure that since I was going to make you scream it would only be polite if we didn't wake up the rest of the dorm.  We DO have twelve hours to kill after all."  At that, Ginny shrieked playfully and jumped off the couch running away from Harry.  Harry quickly caught up with her, and pulled her into a kiss, silencing her. Ginny fought for a moment, then gave in, leaning into Harry's embrace and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her.  Harry felt Ginny's body pressing against his own, and he broke the kiss.  Before Ginny could protest, Harry started trailing kisses along her jaw line, starting behind her ear, and slowly moving down till he was softly kissing her neck, earning gasps and groans from Ginny who was now barely able to stand, and would have actually fallen had she not been in Harry's strong embrace.  Harry was enjoying the taste and smell of Ginny's skin; she tasted like strawberries and cream and smelled of roses.  Not exactly knowing what he was doing, his hand's slowly started pulling at the knotted ropes that held Ginny's dress robes on her.

Ginny, feeling Harry untie her dress robes, opened her eye's and looked at Harry, stepping back from him as her dress robes pooled at her feet.  She had been wearing nothing under them, and stood naked in front of Harry distinctly nervous at what his reaction would be when seeing her like this for the first time.

Harry looked at Ginny with eyes wide in admiration, as his gaze swept from Ginny's head to toe, and then back up again.  He noticed that Ginny was looking up at him nervously, but he could not reassure her for several moments, since her beauty had literally knocked his breath away.  Finally, he pulled in a sharp, ragged breath and said, "You're PERFECT."  At his pronouncement, Ginny smiled happily at him, and blushed.  Harry noticed that Ginny was literally blushing from head to toe, and decided that she looked quite fetching in that color of red.  Making a mental note to somehow recreate that color for new dress robes for her, he quickly embraced her again, and resumed his exploration of her body.  

Soon both Harry and Ginny were without clothes, and were in bed, but were definitely NOT sleeping.  True to his words, Harry indeed did make Ginny scream, several times in fact, over the hours that they reacquainted themselves to the bodies of their Soul Mate.  Harry quickly discovered that Ginny was indeed sensitive in a variety of places and enjoyed making her shiver whenever he kissed her, or groan whenever he sucked on one of her nipples, or kneaded one of her breasts.  In unspoken agreement, however, they did not have sex.  They found several things to do instead, but they did not have sex.  

Finally, happy and exhausted, Ginny cuddled close to Harry, entwining her naked body with his own, while Harry lazily played with her rather magnificent long hair, which was now quite tangled and sweaty.  After a while of this, they both drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Harry woke up, and glanced at the clock.  Smiling to himself, he quickly woke up Ginny with a good morning kiss, which was long, and passionate.  "You know what?" said Ginny with a radiant smile on her face.  "I could get used to waking up to this every morning."  Harry chuckled and got up, looking around.  Their dress robes were scattered around the room, which looked as if a rampaging hippogriff had come through the room.

"I guess we overdid it a bid, huh?" asked Harry, as Ginny slowly got up and looked around the room with him.

"Looks like it," she agreed.  "Do you even remember doing this last night?" she asked feeling a bit embarrassed at the mangled state that their room was in.

"No," answered Harry, "Although I do remember having other things on my mind at the time."  At this statement, Ginny blushed.  "Why don't you go and start getting ready while I clean up this mess."  Ginny looked at him in surprise and gratitude, and then walked into the bathroom.

Harry quickly gathered their dress robes from around the room and put them carefully on the bed.  He then waived his hand on at the messy room, and everything flew back into place, and the broken furniture fixed itself. With a grin on his face, Harry carefully turned to the dress robes and started folding them.  Once he had two neat piles of dress robes, which he put away into drawers of both their dressers, he waived his hand at the bed, which quickly made itself.  Looking around Harry grinned, the room looked perfect once again.  

Two brown boxes appeared out of nowhere on the bed.  Curious, Harry walked over to the bed and saw one labeled with Ginny's name and the other with Harry's.  Opening his box, Harry found a nice neat stack of several sets of new black school robes, except these robes were made with a different material than what the normal school robes were made of.  These robes were made of a material that LOOKED like the normal cotton robes that everyone else wore, but felt soft and silky to the touch.  Noticing a letter had been included; he picked it up and read it.

Harry,

            Hope you like the surprise.  I thought that Ginny would like school robes that actually fit her, and then I decided that, since I never got you a birthday present, I should probably make some for you as well.  I know you two will enjoy them.  Congratulations! I told you everything would work out in the end.

Circe

"Gin, Circe sent us some new dress robes," he called out, walking to the bathroom where he heard his girlfriend showering.  Opening the door and entering, he started brushing his teeth."

"Oh?  Well that's nice of her," said Ginny as she showered.  "I was slightly worried about what I was going to do about my school robes, all the ones I bought this summer won't exactly fit my new body would they?"

Finishing brushing his teeth, Harry entered into the shower with his girlfriend, watching her apply large amounts of shampoo to her wealth of hair.  "They're really nice too," he said as he stepped up under the stream of hot water, taking the shampoo from her and doing the same.  "They look the same, from what I can tell, but they're feel soft and silky to the touch, obviously some type of fabric that Circe makes herself."

"Oh, well, I guess we should thank her then," said Ginny, as her arms snaked around Harry's head, pulling him into a kiss.

After they had finished their shower and dried off, well, everything except their hair.  "My hair's never going to dry," complained Ginny as she finished combing her wealth of wet hairs, wincing every so often as she came across a knot in her hair.  Harry, in response, lifted his wand and waived it in the general direction of her hair, which instantly dried.  Seeing her shocked expression, Harry grinned and informed her that he had quickly learned that little spell from Rowena after going to Avalon.   "My hair isn't exactly short anymore either you know."

Their new robes were wonderful, and Circe had thoughtfully included several sets of undergarments for Ginny as well, since her old bras and panties would not fit any longer.  Dressing in their new robes, they were both faintly amused to see that Circe's rendition of school robes, while being close enough to pass inspection, left very little to imagination as to the changes that had come over both Harry and Ginny.  They did, however, feel wonderful to wear.  Commenting about how she thought that she might get Circe to start making all her clothes, Ginny and Harry walked down to breakfast, a bit later than usual.

As the stepped into the Great Hall, everyone turned to look at the couple, and gasps of surprise sounded around the hall from students and teachers both when they caught sight of the new and improved Ginny Weasley.  Several guy's mouths had dropped, and many more were looking at Ginny somewhat hungrily.  Several girls had the same reaction when they saw Harry.  Harry and Ginny merely ignored everyone's reaction, and calmly made their way to the Gryffindor table, where they sat down next to Ron and Hermoine. 

"Decided to change your robes around?" asked Ron, a grin on his face.

"Well if we're going to have to start fighting them all of with sticks, why not flaunt it if you've got it?" asked Harry shrugging.

"What happened to YOU Weasley?" asked a drawling voice from behind them.  Draco Malfoy had quietly slipped up to them, and had spoken so that most of the Hall could hear, even though he made sure that his voice did not quite carry to the Teacher's Table.  "What, did Potter here pay and make you his new sex toy?"

At this, Ron jumped up, red in the face, but Ginny calmly stood and turned to face the now grinning Slytherine boy.  "Yes Draco, actually he did.  I mean, now that he IS one of the richest wizards in the world, Harry CAN afford the best, can't he?  What's wrong Draco?" she asked, staring at the dumbstruck blond Slytherine in front of her.  "Wish that you had enough money to do this," she gestured down at her body, "to your girlfriend Parkinson over there?"  She nodded towards the overweight Slytherine girl standing off to one side.  At her words, Draco's face colored slightly.  

Suddenly Matilda Stormcloud walked into the room, several long boxes floating behind her.  Seeing Harry and his friends, she quickly walked up to them and grinned at her Godson and his girlfriend.  "Here you are Harry, all six of them, as ordered," she said.  "I would have gotten them to you sooner, but I decided that everyone might like to have their names engraved in their own brooms, so I went ahead and did that as well."  She pulled one of the boxes forward, and opened it, revealing a beautiful new Thunderbolt with _Virginia Weasley_ engraved in gold on the handle, after the name and registration number.

"You-you BOUGHT your team TUNDERBOLTS!?!?!" exclaimed Draco, his voice reaching to all corners of the Great Hall, making every single student stare at the group of boxes by the Gryffindor Quidditch team in shock.  "That's… That's…"

"Woth several hundred thousand galleons," finished Ginny cheerfully, pulling up beside her and kissing him on the cheek.  "And he bought Me, Hermione, and Katie, Thunderbolts with two extra for the Beaters," she informed him.  "He bought Ron a Lighteningbolt.  Like I said, Harry can afford THE BEST, unlike SOME people here," she said, staring pointedly at Draco, whose face went red with anger, then he stalked off.

"I don't think I even want to GUESS what that was about," said Matilda after a moment.  "Harry, I decided that I cannot except your money for these brooms," then as she saw that Harry was about to protest, "But seeing as how you are now richer than any other wizard in England, I decided that you could afford to pay for your dear godmother's retirement."

Harry grinned, as he snaked an arm around Ginny's slender waist.  "You came in at the perfect time Matilda," he informed her.  Matilda quickly passed out the brooms to Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Katie as he said this.  "Malfoy said some very…rude… things to Ginny, and your arrival worked in perfectly with her clever retort."  Matilda grinned at them, happy to be of service.  "Although I don't know if I like the idea of the rest of the school thinking that I've made you into some sort of sex toy," Harry said to Ginny, which made Matilda looked shocked and a bit scandalized.

Ginny shrugged.  "I don't care what they think," she said as she sat down again, and started putting food on her plate.  "WE know the truth, and that's all that matters.  So, since we don't have classes again today, do you guys want to go try out our new brooms?" she asked the group, earning excited grins and acknowledgements from them all.

After breakfast, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermoine, Katie, and most of Gryffindor House walked down to the Quidditch pitch to try out their brooms.  Harry had decided to see what his broom could REALLY do.  Katie was wondering about the future of the Quidditch team.

"I know that I can't devote enough time to be Captain," she was saying.  "But I think I would really miss flying, so do you think you could still use me as a Chaser?"

"Actually, you're thinking along the same lines that I was," replied Harry.  "I was thinking that you could help train the other Chasers, and demonstrate the new strategies that I've come up with.  I'm not going to start having official practices for a while, so you can figure out your work-load before committing to anything.  If you can't play, then you can at least help out at practices."

"Yeah Katie, then you can fly with us during whatever practices you can make, and not put you're new broom to waste," said Hermione, a grin of excitement on her face as they walked onto the pitch.

Everyone quickly mounted their brooms, and jumped off, soaring into the air.  After a few moments, Colin Creevy pulled opened the box of Quidditch balls that they had brought down, threw up the Quaffle, and the Golden Snitch.  Even though they didn't have another team to play against, they managed quite marvelously.  Katie, Hermione, and Ginny quickly passed the Quaffle around, trying to score on Ron.  Try as they might they didn't seem to be able to get anything passed Ron, even though they were all flying perfectly and beautifully, making it look like a work of art.  Harry, above the stadium, was ignoring them all and testing out his new broom.  It was amazing.  Harry sped up to the top speed of the Firebolt, and then twice that speed, then a little more.  Seeing the Golden Snitch, he directed his broom towards the ground at this insane speed, but seamlessly pulled out of the dive at the last second, not slowing down for a moment.  He then sped up SOMEMORE so that he was flying at three times the speed of the Firebolt.  Everyone and everything seemed to be blurs, but Harry was able to use his other senses to 'see' what was going on around him.  Finally, flying up above the other players again, Harry finally flew as fast as his broom would go.

To everyone in the stands watching, Harry seemed to be flying extremely well.  They watched in amazement as he sped up to an insane speed, then dived, and pulled out of that dive without even slowing down.  Noticing this rest of the team quickly stopped flying, Ginny caught the Quaffle and held it, as she and the rest of the team watched Harry speed up again, now nothing more than a blur of movement, as he shot up high above the stands once more.  Then, Harry disappeared.  Everyone screamed in shock, thinking about the last time Harry had disappeared, in his fourth year, during the Third Task.  Ginny, however, began to look around, and noticed that Harry was now on the ground, the Golden Snitch in his hand.  Again, he was lying on the ground laughing uncontrollably.  Pointing to him, Ginny quickly flew down and landed next to her boyfriend, the rest of the team quickly following, as well as the rest of Gryffindor house from the stands.  Harry just laid there laughing in delight.

Ginny put her hands on her hips and asked, "Harry Potter, what do you think you were doing?"

Harry stopped laughing, looked up at his girlfriends, and then glanced around, seeing the worried faces of Gryffindor house surrounding him.  "Nothing," he said, confused.  "I was just testing out Matilda's new broom, that's all.  I wanted to see how fast I could go on it safely, and it turns out that the top speed isn't really that bad at all."

"YOU FLEW AT TOP SPEED?" shriek Hermione.  "HARRY, how could you!  That's WAY out of the safe flying speeds set up by the Ministry."

"Hermione, I know how fast it is, I was the one flying, remember?" he said, getting up.  "I wanted to see how much I could handle, so that I would know how much I could push myself safely during a match.  If I wasn't confident that I could handle it, I wouldn't have done it," this he said as he looked at Ginny, his face serious.  "I'm sorry if I scared you Gin, but this had to be done and better now than during a match when I could have really hurt a lot of people if I had lost control."

Ginny thought about this for a moment, then asked, "How did it feel?"

Harry grinned.  "It was amazing," he said.  "That broom literally anticipates my thoughts, and flying on it is like an experience that I can't even describe with words, but flying at TOP SPEED on that thing was…wow," he finished.

Ginny eyed him closely, and noticed how happy he looked.  She sighed, and pulled him into a hug.  "Just be careful, OK?" she asked.  "I don't want you flying like a maniac and killing yourself.  You're not immortal you know," this she said with a hint of teasing in her voice.

Harry returned her embrace, pulling her body even close to his own, relishing the feeling of it even more than he had the feeling of flying on his broom.  "I wouldn't even dream of it," he told her truthfully.

After that, everyone decided to go back to the castle and hang out in the Commons Room until lunch. Harry and Ginny, however, went back to their room and put their brooms away in the broom closet that they had found there.  Harry's Firebolt was still in there.

"You know, I need to figure out what to do with that thing," he said.  "It seems like a waste just leaving it in there all the time."

"You could use it for practices, and use your custom broom for games," Ginny suggested as she placed her new broom carefully in the closet.  "That way you use both brooms, and you'll work a bit harder during practices, which will make you even more ready for games."

"That's a good idea," Harry agreed.  "Are you ready to go to Avalon?" he asked looking at her.  She suddenly looked nervous, but nodded.  "OK, let me get your tests real quick, and we'll be on our way."  Harry went to the dresser and picked up the folder that Professor McGonnogall had given him the night before, then reached out and took hold of his Staff, which immediately appeared in his hand, which he used to lock the door, and put protective spells all around their room.  Going over to Ginny, he took her hand in his, gave it a squeeze in reassurance, and Apparated them both to Avalon.

They appeared in front of a huge castle, even larger than Hogwarts.  Looking around Ginny saw that there was a woman walking towards them on the walkway to the castle.  While she walked towards them, Ginny studied her.  She appeared to be about five foot four inches tall with long dark red hair, though not as long as Ginny's.  She was very beautiful and wore black robes on her slender frame.  Flying above her was what looked to be a snowy white owl.  The woman stopped in front of them and smiled warmly.  Ginny noticed that she had beautiful hazel colored eyes.  "Harry," she said in a melodious voice, "Welcome Home."

Harry grinned down at the woman and hugged her.  Ginny, despite herself, felt a pang of jealousy.  "It's good to be back.  I didn't know how much I would miss this place until I left it," Harry told the woman, as they broke apart.

"Especially now that you have found young Virginia here, hmm?" asked the woman, a slight tone of teasing entering her voice.  She smiled at Ginny.

Harry grinned.  "Yes, well could you blame me, Great-Grandmother?" he asked, making Ginny look from one to the other in surprise.

"Great-Grandmother?" asked Ginny.

Harry looked at Ginny, then remembered that this was the first time she had ever come to Avalon.  "Sorry Gin," he apologized.  "This is Queen Morgana Le Fey," he informed her, gesturing to the woman.  "I call her my Great-Grandmother, because she's technically IS my Great-Grandmother, except with an infinite amount of Greats added."

"It's nice to meet you Virginia," said Morgana still smiling at Ginny, then surprising the girl by hugging her and whispering, "Welcome to the family, dear," into her ear.

"So how's the Old Man," asked Harry.

"He's having a conniption," said a voice from over head.  Before they could react, the snowy white owl swooped down and landed lightly on Morgana's now outstretched arm.  "Keeps muttering to himself about what you did last night."

"Hey Archimedes," said Harry, grinning at the owl.  He looked at Ginny and told her, "Archimedes is Merlin's owl… well he's more than an owl now."

"MORE than an owl?" said Ginny in confusion.

"Yes, Merlin was a bit lonely before we met, so he cast a few spells on his owl, giving him the ability to speak, think, and read like a human," said Morgana, stroking the owl's feathers lovingly.  "He hasn't shut up ever since.  After a while, it just didn't seem right to take all that away."

"Yes, well… Harry, do you by any chance have that positively charming female with you by any chance?" asked the owl, looking hopeful.

Harry chuckled and informed Ginny, "Archimedes was rather taken by Hedwig during our stay here," then answering Archimedes, "Sorry Arch, Hedwig is back at Hogwarts, I'll make sure to send her along sometime soon so the two of you can have a bit of a visit."

"Thank you my boy," said the owl happily.  "Merlin wants to speak to you.  He said that he INSISTED, which as you know can never be good.  He's waiting for Morgana and I to bring the two of you up to your chambers."

"MY chambers?" asked Harry.  "Why didn't we meet in HIS chambers?"

"Oh Harry, be nice," chided Morgana lovingly.  "He wanted to talk to you in front of the whole Council, but I convinced him that it would be better to talk to you in private.  I told him to go wait in your chambers for us."

Harry sighed, and then said, "Well we might as well get this over with."  He took Ginny's hand and led her into the castle with Morgana.  Archimedes flew off to go hunt.  As they walked, Harry and Morgana did not speak, allowing Ginny to look at her surroundings in obvious delight, the castle was extremely beautiful after all.  Everywhere she looked she saw things that astounded her: suits of armour made out of gold, beautiful tapistries of ancient battles, both Muggle and Wizarding, and all kinds of new things that she didn't even know the names of yet.  When they entered Harry's chambers, Ginny gasped.  They walked into a huge sitting room that had several couches and chairs, as well as a huge wonderfully crafted desk with a man that looked incredibally like Harry sitting on it, not saying anything.  

As she looked around the room, she saw several doors, some of which were closed, and others of which were opened.  Of the open ones, Ginny was able to see a huge personal library as well as a large bedroom with a huge king size bed.  This was obviously a suite of rooms fit for a king, or in this case, a prince.  Finally, Ginny tore her gaze from the room and gazed at the man who Morgana had crossed to and kissed lovingly on the cheek.  He DID look like Harry.  His hair was a bit longer, and his eyes were a startling blue color, but besides that, he and Harry could be twins.

"Does every man in your family look exactly the same?" she asked Harry, earning a grin from him and a snort of amusement from his blue eyed twin who could be none other than Merlin the Great himself.  _He doesn't have a beard… _When he stood, Ginny noticed another difference.  Merlin was shorter than Harry was.  Merlin stood at Six feet tall, making him five inches shorter than Harry.  The authority that fell off him in waves, however, more than made up for the height difference.

"So, when were you going to tell us that you could create Arch-mages?" asked Merlin, his voice deep and authoratative like Harry's, but not quite the same.  "We didn't think it was possible, if you remember."

"Well, I actually figured out how to do it when I was preparing the spell last night," Harry informed him, lazily sinking into a chair, and pulling Ginny onto his lap.  Morgana smiled at this, but Merlin did not take his blue eyes off Harry's green ones.

"So the spell doesn't require you to place a part of yourself within another person?" asked Merlin frowning.

"No," replied Harry.  "I just did that for Ginny because I wasn't sure that I would be able to do a full Arch-mage transformation.  I truly thought that putting a part of me in Ginny was what I needed to do.  While I was preparing the spell, I added a part to increase her powers.  While I was working on that paticular part of the spell, I figured out how to induce the Transformation."

"Transformation?" asked Ginny, confused.

"Your physical transformation," answered Morgana, stepping closer to Merlin, who slipped an arm around her waist in response.  "No one except an Arch-mage would transform physically due to being imbued with power.  As soon as you transformed, Harry realized what he had truly done."

When Ginny looked at him, Harry nodded and added, "I wasn't happy, because I knew that if you were transforming, I had inflicted you with the Test of Pain.  However  I knew that making you an Arch-mage would be the only way to truly give you what you wanted.  The fact that you are better protected now is an added benefit."

"Do you know which part of the spell triggered the transformation?" asked Merlin.  "We were all monitoring the situation with every sense we had, but none of us could tell which part triggered the transformation.

"Yes," Harry responded with a nod.  "Actually, I should have figured it out sooner."  At Merlin's confused frown, he explained.  "When the Sphere of Power shattered, and I absorbed it, no one knew what was going on.  Then, we found out that my power level was equal to that of the entire globe, AND that I was able to recharge my power like the globe.  We should have known that if I imbued anyone with power, it would trigger the transformation, just like the Globe.  Now that I know about it, I can transfer power in the normal way, or with the added effect of triggering the transformation."

"Well that's good," Merlin said, sighing in relief.  "I don't like the idea of everyone you strengthen with a boost of power becoming an Arch-mage.  Think of what would happen if one of them turned into a Dark Wizard."  At that, Harry, Morgana, and Merlin all shivered.  "That also explains why Virginia here changed… the way she did."

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny with a frown.

"Well do you remember asking Harry why he HAD to make your nipples so sensitive?" Merlin asked, ignoring the blush that had appeared on Ginny's face.  "Well Harry DID make you're nipples that sensitive, as well as every other change that happened."

"What?" said Harry in surprise.  "I thought that Ginny's transformation was normal for the amount of power that she was given."

"Well the extent of the changes is normal," replied Merlin with a surprisingly sly grin.  "But what do you think the odds are that the changes Ginny goes through makes her EXACTLY what you think of as perfect?"

"You're saying that Harry made me look like this?" asked Ginny, getting up from Harry's lap and looking at him accusingly.

"Yes, but not intentionally," replied Merlin quickly.  When both Ginny and Harry looked up at him in confusion, he explained.  "The spell that Harry performed was an extremely powerful Mage Level spell.  If he had not added a part of himself into the mix, you still would have changed, and definitely would have become more beautiful, but you probably would not have changed in exactly the same way that you did change in reality.  Because Harry added a bit of himself into the mix along with endowing you with some of his power, and triggering the Arch-mage transformation, that bit of him that was added into the mix guided the transformation."

At Harry's surprised look, Merlin reminded him, "When casting Mage Level Spells, wants, desires, and fantasies sometimes effect what happens.  It's actually quite to be expected for you to have forgotten about that little bit and not compensate for it, considering the fact that you originally started creating an Enchanter Level spell if I'm not mistaken, am I correct." 

Harry nodded in understanding.  "When I added the power and transformation part of the spell, it made the spell infinitely more complex, pushing it into the Mage Level."

"I have a question," said Ginny, and when everyone looked at her, she went on.  "You all said that I have been given a large amount of power, that I'm as powerful as Merlin now." 

Merlin and Morgana both nodded. "You are," they both said.

"Well that why don't I feel any different, aside from feeling physically different.  And why don't I give off an aura like all of you do?" she asked.

"Because the power that I gave you is lying dormant behind a powerful block," answered Harry.  "  That's another effect of the spell that I Cast.  Until you learn to control it, you're power would be a danger to you, and to those around you.  I am powerful enough that it wouldn't hurt me at all, but you could easily turn the entire Great Hall into newts by sneezing if you aren't controlling your power."  Seeing Ginny's look of uneasiness, he added.  "Don't worry, the block won't go away until you an fully handle your power, which we will work on."

"So you're planning on training her yourself are you?" asked Morgana, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," replied Harry.  "I can train Ginny at Hogwarts in Godric's Secret Chamber, or any of the other Founder's chambers.  Any and all of them already have time spells, so all I need to do is tweak them a bit, and it will be the perfect place."

"Why don't you want us to train her?" asked Merlin.

"It's not that I don't want you to train Ginny," said Harry.  "It's just that I don't think that we should wait until next summer, and we can't keep on coming here to Avalon every day, or even every weekend.  I am at Hogwarts, AND I am the Uber Arch-mage that all of you made me to be.  I know EVERYTHING about magic that ALL of you know.  I'm the perfect person to train her, and I'm already at Hogwarts."

Merlin and Morgana thought about this, then, both nodded in acceptance.  "I'll tell the servants to set aside rooms for young Virginia here," he informed them.

"That won't be necessary," said Harry and Ginny at the same time, both blushing furiously.

"Oh?" asked Morgana in amusement, "And why not?"

"Because Ginny will be staying here in my suite," answered Harry firmly.  "I'm not going to lie to either of you Great-Grandmother, especially since you both know the truth.  Ginny and I are as much a couple as you and Merlin are.  There's no need to split us apart."  After a moment of looking at both of them, Morgana nodded, satisfied.  

"We'll leave the two of you in peace," she told them.  "Harry, I want the two of you to come dine in the family dining room at least once before you go, but all your other meals can be taken in your private dining room."  Then, with a smile to both of them, she and Merlin left, closing the door to Harry's suite behind them.

Harry turned to Ginny, "Want to see the place?" he asked.

Ginny nodded, and Harry took her on a tour of his extremely large suite of rooms.  Harry first took her into his private library, which was huge and had every single wall lined with books.  In the middle of the room were a few comfortable chairs, which were clearly created as a comfortable place to read.  

Next, they went into Harry's bedroom, which held a walk in closet.  As soon as they both walked in, the closet widened, and several more robes appeared, all of them decidedly feminine, and in Ginny's size.  The bedroom had two nightstands, as well as a fireplace with a chair in front of it, along with the huge bed.  It also had two perches, and what looked to be a scratching post in one corner appeared out of nowhere.  A large mirror also appeared on one wall, as well as a table with make up, brushes, and jewelry.  Ginny looked at Harry in surprise, causing Harry to smile tenderly at her.

"Only the best for my Ginny," he said.  "These rooms all change to my specification.  The robes that you saw were created by the closet, because I wanted you to have clothes."

With this as an explanation, they went out and into another room, which turned out to be Harry's dining room.  Another fireplace was in this room, as well as a large table with several places for people to eat.  Golden silverware and the finest of china plates were all on the table in each place.  On the far side of the room was a china cabinet with several more sets of the same thing.  The next room was the bathroom, which was huge.  A large walk in bath that looked to be about the size of a swimming pool was on once side of the room, with a toilet, and a few sinks on the other.  Towards the back was a large shower that could easily fit two people in it with shower heads coming from three directions.  The next room was an exercise room, it was filled with practice dummies, and padded so that one wouldn't get hurt if he or she was to fall.  The second to last room was Harry's workroom.  It had all types of potion's ingredients as well as several different types and sizes of cauldrons.  A large worktable dominated the room and two chairs appeared by the table out of thin air.The final room was a family room.  Couches and chairs were all arrayed in a circle around a coffee table, and several of the tables had lamps on them, causing the room to have a homey feeling.

"Well, what do you think?" asked Harry as they went back out into his Commons room again.

"It's wonderful," replied Ginny with a grin.  "But I guess we won't be spending a lot of time here, will we?"

"Why would you think that?" asked Harry with a frown.

"Well, we're here to teach me the fifth year and get me ready for the O.W.L.'s," she said.  "Aren't we going to the libraries that you talked about to do that?" 

"No," replied Harry.  "My library has all the books and what not that we need.  You can use my workroom for Potions and Arithmancy.  We can do transfiguration and charms in the exercise room.  I can turn down the ratio of time between the suite and the outside world easily.  We'll be spending all our time here."  At Ginny's delighted look, Harry chuckled and told her to sit down so they could start.

Ginny's training began immediately, and she was surprised at how good a teacher Harry turned out to be.  He always seemed to know what she was doing wrong, and was able to explain things to her understanding.  He was also a hard taskmaster.  Even when, she begged him for a kiss break, Harry refused, during their allotted time for studying, which in and of itself was a long time.  From nine in the morning until lunch at noon, and then two in the afternoon until dinner at six, Ginny was working.  Harry taught her, and when he was not teaching her, he was doing several other things.  

While Ginny never left their suite of rooms, Harry did occasionally, when the Council needed him for one thing or another.  They never had any visitors; Harry just seemed to know when he they called somehow.  Surprisingly enough, Ginny didn't feel annoyed at all during this time.  While Harry was teaching her, he seemed to know just how much to push her before backing off, and after dinner, they were just as affectionate as ever.  They enjoyed taking bathes together at night, as well as showers together in the mornings.  Harry had also revealed that one of the large windows in the Commons room opened to a large balcony, which they frequented.  They would curl up in each other's embrace and watch the stars, or do other things as well.   They also took their dinners outside occasionally.  Overall, it was an extremely pleasant life, and Ginny was sorry to see it end.  While taking the O.W.L. equivelency tests, however, she figured out something.  Harry had tricked her; he had tricked everyone.  Harry had apparently taught her a LOT more than the fifth year material that he was supposed to.  She suspected that he also taught her the entire sixth year curriculum, though she could not figure out why.  She finished all the tests with ease, and had pleased Harry and herself by making perfect marks on all of them.  Their last night at Avalon, Harry finally took her to what Morgana had called the Family dining room.

As they entered, Ginny looked around, seeing a table set for six in the massive room, which was clearly made to hold many more people.  Walking to the table, they both sat down at the empty chairs, and looked at the other four people sitting with them.  Merlin and Morgana where both present of course, as well as Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw, who was also a redheaded witch.

The dinner was very enjoyable.  Ginny found that both Harry's 'Grandparents,' as well as his 'Great-Grandparents' were all extremely nice, kind people, who put her at ease immediately.  All of them welcomed Ginny to the family, and commented on how good the two of them seemed together.  After a large, nine course meal, Harry and Ginny retired to what they both now considered their suite.  Before going to sleep, Harry informed Ginny that he had a surprise for her before they went back to Hogwarts.

The next day, they both dressed back in the Hogwarts robes that Circe had given them, and walked to the massive doors to the castle.  There to say goodbye were all four people who they had dined with the previous evening.  Rowena, with a secretive grin, handed Harry two boxes and whispered something to him briefly.  He nodded and whispered his thanks, and then hugged her and Morgana.  After shaking both Godric's and Merlin's hands, he and Ginny walked hand in hand out of Avalon, and quickly Apparated away, but they did not arrive in Hogwarts.

Instead, they arrived in what was unmistakably the Leaky Cauldron.  Seeing them, Tom, the old bartender, quickly ushered them up the stairs and into one of the rooms, which Harry had obviously rented for the night.  Closing the door behind her, Ginny turned to her boy friend and asked him what was going on.

"Harry, why are we at the Leaky Cauldron instead of Hogwarts?" she asked.  "Shouldn't we be getting back soon?"

"Oh we have plenty of time," replied Harry.  "It's only Saturday night after all."  Ginny looked at Harry in surprise.  "Instead, I thought that I would take you out for dinner, on a real date, as a celebration for you passing your tests."

"Oh HARRY!" she breathed, touched.  "But won't we be seen?"

"Nope," replied Harry cheerfully.  "We're going out into Muggle London for a night on the town," he informed her opening one of the boxes that Rowena had given him.  Inside was an exquisite evening gown.  It was a dark red, which would offset her fiery red hair nicely, and looked to be quite expensive.  Looking up at her boyfriend, she saw that the second box held a wonderful looking suit, looking to be equally expensive.  Harry glanced at his watch.

"We should probably be getting ready, our dinner reservation is in about an hour and a half," he informed her.

As was their ritual now, they showered together, dried off and dressed.  Ginny was about to put a bit of make up on, when Harry stopped her with, "Don't, you look perfect already, anything that you do would just take away from your natural beauty."  Touched, Ginny blushed, but put away her make up and considered her hair.  Finally, she decided to leave it down.  Once they had finished getting dressed, Harry led her out of the Leaky Cauldron to a car that he had hired.  They drove for about twenty minutes, and came to a stop in front of a large restaurant, with lots of people equally well dressed outside of it.  They went in, and were quickly taken to a table.

It was a memorable evening.  They ate a large dinner, which was perfectly seasoned and cooked just right, and then they went dancing on the dance floor that the restaurant housed.  Ginny was surprised to find that Harry was an excellent dancer.  He had apparently learned sometime between the Yule Ball last year, and tonight, and Ginny enjoyed swaying gently to the wonderful music in Harry's embrace.  They left, finally, as the restaurant closed, Harry paying for the dinner and everything else without even caring how much he had spent.  They then got back into the car, and were driven to another building.  At Ginny's confused expression, Harry smiled, pulled her from the car, and led her into the store.  It was a jewelry store, but not one like Ginny had ever seen before.  They were the only people there, and despite the lateness of the hour, the owner smiled at them and welcomed them inside.  He called them both by name.

"Ah Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, please come this way," he said, leading them to a table that held several beautiful diamond necklaces.

"Pick which one you want," Harry told her, making Ginny's eyes go wide.

"Harry…"she began.

"Just pick one, Gin," he said.  "I'm not leaving here till I've bought you a gift, so you might as well do it.  And don't try and chose the cheapest," he warned her.  "I'll know if you are trying to do that."

Ginny, eyes still wide, turned her gaze to the necklaces before her, trying to decide which one she liked best.  _I might as well pick my favorite, since he's going to buy me something anyway,_ she thought to herself.  Her eyes fell on an exquisite necklace, and she fell in love with it immediately.  It was made of gold, and had two rows of diamonds making up the chain, as well as fiery red stones that she couldn't identify in the middle, surrounding a  large diamond in the shape of a flame.  The diamond actually seemed to be on fire.  Pointing to the necklace, she indicated her choice.  She had thought that that was all, but she was wrong.  She and Harry were then led to a table with Diamond bracelets, where Harry told her to choose one again.  She chose a delicate gold bracelet that, again, had diamonds that seemed to be on fire.  She was then taken to a table with an array of earrings and told to choose yet again.  She chose gold earrings with the same type of fiery diamonds that she had chosen before.  Finally, Ginny was led in front of a table that only had one thing on it, a ring.

The ring was beautiful.  It was made of gold, and was extremely delicate.  It had a large fiery diamond on it, the same as all the other diamonds that she had chosen.  Ginny looked at Harry to find him kneeling on one knee, still holding her hands in his.  She gasped as she figured out what was happening.

"Virginia Weasley," he said, looking straight into her eyes, his love for her pouring out of that gaze, taking her breath away.  Ginny began to tremble.  "I know that we have not been going out long by normal standards, but I feel as if I've known you my entire life, and I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you."  Tears started to form in Ginny's eyes at his words.  "So, I am asking you, my love, if you will give me the honor of being my wife.  Will you marry me?"

For several moments, Ginny could not speak, her emotions running away with her.  Tears were streaming down her face, and she was shaking uncontrollably.  Finally, however she got control of herself enough to nod and whisper, out "Yes, Oh please yes."

At her words, Harry leapt to his feet, pulling her into a kiss, which she readily returned, tears still running down her face.  Finally, after a few moments, they broke apart, and Harry picked up the ring.  He carefully took her left hand, and put the ring on her ring finger, it fit perfectly.  The storeowner, smiling, placed the necklace, bracelet, and earrings down on the table as well.  Harry carefully put the bracelet on Ginny's right hand, and put the necklace around her slender neck.  Ginny was so shocked, that she did not move, she could not.  Seeing this, Harry quickly told the storeowner to box the earrings, and pulled out a large sack of what looked to be galleons.  Seeing the wizard money shocked Ginny out of her dazed state.

"Harry," what are you doing?" she asked.  "This isn't a wizarding jewelry store, is it?"

"No," he replied softly.  "But they exchange gold here, so using galleons is fine, I checked with Bill and he said that a lot of Muggle jewelry shops accepted galleons, and it was OK with the Ministry."

"When did you talk to Bill," she asked.

"Well what do you think I was doing, all those times I left you?" he asked in amusement.  "The Council never really needed me.  I talked to Bill this morning, which was about three months ago for us.  Then I bought the Muggle clothing.   About two months ago, I arranged all this at the store, I've had reservations for that restaurant since Friday afternoon, which was the first time that I left, about a month into our stay there."

"And all the other times?" she asked as the owner came back carrying a bag filled with the boxes for the necklace, bracelet, and ring, as well as the earrings in their box.  

"I had the women of the order teach me how to dance," he answered, and then turned to the Owner.  "The rest of the price, as promised," he said handing the large sack of galleons over to the man, who in turn handed Harry the bag.

As they left, Ginny had another question.  "What did you mean 'the REST of the price'?" she asked.

"Well when I came in here, I looked through their selection, and gave them a general idea as to what you would want, and they told me a price for everything.  I made a large down payment but made sure to keep a small part of the cost for when we came."

As this sunk in, Ginny understood what Harry had left unsaid.  Once they were back in the car, speeding on their way back to the Leaky Cauldron, Ginny asked him, "Harry, how much did this night cost you?"

"Somewhere around a million galleons," he replied carelessly, then looking at her shocked expression, went on.  "I wanted tonight to be perfect, Gin.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again," he said as he gently cupped her face with his hand, "You deserve the very best."  Then he kissed her, and her worry, and feelings of inadequacy melted into nothing, as she felt her mind slipping to the sweet oblivion that it went to whenever Harry kissed her.

When they got back to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry and Ginny quickly went up the stairs to their room.  Ginny was still in shock as to what had happened.  _Harry asked me to MARRY HIM,_ she thought to herself.  _Tonight was perfect._

Well, another Chapter finished.  Sorry that it took so long to all of you wonderful readers and reviewers who were waiting.  I didn't have much chance to write since the re-post.  I don't know when I'll be able to get out the next chapter, because I'm a bit busy at the moment, but I'll try to post another one soon.

**Ruskbyte: **Thank you for your encouragement, and your blessing.  I'll try to live up to the trust you've given me.  ****

**Dragongirl19**: The Dursley's treated Harry so well because they were afraid of the Order of the Phoenix's threat at the end of the fifth book.  You'll find that out at the end of the fic, but they really didn't care a thing about whether or not Harry went through a lot or not.  Also, Harry WOULD have written to Hermione, but Ron kept Hedwig for a month, so he couldn't.

**Markhp**: Expect more of the Snape sideline in later chapters.  I'm sorry I scared you, but I'm back, and here to stay (or at least until the next time 8P)

**Athenakitty:** Harry's got something, hmm what's the word.. special… planned for Bellatrix.  Ron won the food eating competition, since he has absolutely no manners at all.  I've got something very VERY satisfying planned for Fudge, can't say more or it would ruin the surprise.  Harry will continue to make Ginny blush (He likes her in that particular color).  As of yet the bouncing ferret isn't in the story, and I don't think he will make an appearance, if he does it will be towards the end.  Harry does shock Dumbledore, and he will continue to do so, the Weasleys are rich, but not as rich as the Malfoy's (that's not included in the story at all, but I thought that you wanted to know, so I decided to tell you)  You're going to have to keep reading to find out about Snape, but most of your snape questions have already been answered in the previous chapters.  And yes, Harry hates the idea of being rich, just like he hates everything else that makes him fameous.  Harry DOES have a bit of a wacky sense of humor, but Godric really went above and beyond wacky.  Let me explain.  Godric decided for no reason whatsoever that he just NEEDED a chamber devoted to phoenixes, so he created the chamber, and Salazar, mostly because he wanted to annoy Rowena, filled it with the most garish, gaudy statues and pictures of phoenixes that he could find.  Harry knows this, which is why he muttered about Godric's wacky sense of humor.  You'll have to read a bit more to find out about Remus and Snape's problems.

**Anja10: **From what I know about Werewolf lore, Silver is the only substance that can penetrate a werewolf's thick hide.  As long as Harry doesn't try to drive the silver THROUGH Remus, there's no problem.  Also, Harry gave Remus silver in particular BECAUSE he is a werewolf, but more on that later.

**Hannah Abby: **Thank you for setting me straight. 8)  Your encouraging words have helped me know that my decision to re-post was the right one.  Hope you like the latest chapter!

**Shdurrani: **As you see, Merlin was indeed having fits.  Harry likes doing that to him though, makes the Old Man know that he can still be surprised, even if Harry is the only one who can surprise him.

**ChrismKing208: **Sorry again, I'll try not to piss you off again!  Hope you like the latest installment!  I thought it was something  very McGonnogall to say at that particular time. 8)

**Starlight35: **I didn't think it was fair to give Harry a makeover and not let Ginny have one too.  Tell me what you think of the New, Improved Ginny. 8)

**RookRaven: **Hope I can keep you dancing!  Tell me what you think about the latest chapter.

**Emerem: **Until I started writing this story, I didn't think I could write either.  Try doing it, you might surprise yourself.  Hope you liked the latest chapter!

**Bushido: **Don't worry, not planning on deleting ANYTHING anytime soon.  Hope you like the latest Chapter!

**Theauthorthatwrites: **Thank you for telling me about the anonymous reviews.  I had no clue that was even possible until you pointed it out to me.  I'm sorry you lost sleep over my story, hope that reading the new installments is worth it.  

**Angelbach: **The situation between Severus and Harry isn't quite over yet, but you're right that they have finally come to an understanding.  As to a love interest for Severus, I've been playing around with a few ideas.  We still have to get him over Matilda first, which is of course one of the things between Harry and Severus that isn't quite over...

**Angelis1: **Tell me if this is spicy enough for you, or whether you want extra hot.  I've got a few places in the fic where I go even hotter, but I've been trying to decide if I want to keep them in, or whether I want to keep the level of spicyness the way it is.  I've checked out both GryffindorTower and Checkmated, and if need be, I'll re-post on them.  Ron and Hermoine haven't quite gotten the chance to ask Harry as of yet.  He HAS thought about it though, so whenever they ask, he will have an answer to give them.

**reanne080: **Lonliness can do amazing things to people, don't you think.  Now that Severus is accepted, he's going to loose SOME of his snarkyness, but I think that he should have a bit left over just as a reminder of where he came from, don't you?  As to a love intrest for him, I've got some ideas, but, as I told Angelbach, he has to get over Matlida before he can look for someone else.

**Mrriddler:** Remember, Harry is basically fighting Voldie's goons right now.  He might have more trouble w/ Voldie himself, then again, he might not.  Thanks for your words about Ruskbyte, it helps to know that readers don't think I simply stole from him.

**Lisa Blair: **Thanks for the advice, I'll keep that in mind.  From now on, I promise to not let the bad reviews get me down.

**KapOfDaPipers:** As long as I have stuff to write, I'll keep writing!  Tell me what you think of the latest chapter!

**Dirkpitt: **Thanks!  Tell me what you think about what's happening so far!

**CatatonicReaction: **There's more ways to cheat than just cheating on homework.  Harry could cheat by making students do things by acting like a professor, or being out after hours in a professor's form, or a load of other things.  Harry was basically telling them that he wouldn't make trouble.

**Arsenal: **I always thought that a Phoenix would make a great pet, almost as much as I thought a dragon would..

**JoNaY: **I thought that a group of eternal 22 year olds would want to have fun with the newest member of their 'club'  And they are, a lot of fun.  The big difference between my Harry and James Bond is that Bond always gets like 50 girls, and Harry only wants one… of course he gets her…

**Wadeki: **Harry has a LOT of property left over from the Black family, as well as the Potter family.  Who says that one of those isn't a castle?  And who says that Harry doesn't have another castle somewhere?  Read and find out 8)

**Rayz: **four words: YOU MADE MY DAY!

**Hermy Weasley: **Sorry I couldn't update as quickly as you wanted.  Yes I had a lot of the story written, but I saved most of it.  I'm still re-writing the parts that got deleted though, so updates might be slow for a while.  Hope you like the latest Chapter!

**MizGin: **Will DEFINITELY be continuing.  I already have sequals planned.

**Obsidianpoet: **What do you think about how Ginny handled Draco?  Getting Harry gave her confidence that she didn't have before, and she finally got tired of the little ferret.

**Cari: **Hope this chapter didn't bore you!  I'll make sure to continue writing as much as possible.

**Miagurl: **Thanks for the encouragement.  Tell me what you think about the latest chapter!

**Angel56: **Thanks for your words.  I'm gonna continue until I have nothignn more to say… then I'll say a bit more 8)

**Friendshipanda: **I have to admit I'm guilty of that myself.  I try to review as much as possible, but I don't do it nearly as much as I should.  Thanks for taking the time to review, it made my day!

**The Dreamer87: **I'm not sure whether Action/Adventure is quite right, but I thought it was the closest thing to what I wanted.  Hope you like the latest chapter.

**Sweetygurl: **If you like my story, then you should check out the ones by GinnyK, LilyRosePotter, and Ruskbyte.  They are true artists, and much better than me.

**Viridis: **It took me a while to figure out what I wanted Harry's transformation and training to be like, which is why I didn't include it in chapter two.  I think that it worked out good where it is though.  I thought that making Ginny an equal was needed.  They couldn't really have a good relationship if they didn't start out on equal ground.  More on that later.

**Zombiewolf: **Thanks!  Hope you liked the latest chapter!

**Callia: **Glad you were able to get to the story!  The computer thing was really my fault, but you're words of remorse/regret are appreciated.  I hope you liked the latest chapter.

**GrimmyD: **Will continue as much as possible.

RLupin1003: Ron kept Hedwig for a MONTH.  He should be glad that Hermoine didn't send him a mail bomb.  I have to admit, I have no clue whatsoever if Adam will make another appearance.  Now that you've mentioned it, I've come up with a few intersting ideas, so you never know...  Harry did say in his letter that he would be returning to the Burrow, but that was because he didn't know if Hedwig  would get intercepted or not, so he decided to say the Burrow instead of Headquarters and assumed that Ginny would know what he was talking about.  I have to admit I'm proud of that particular line of Ron's.  He doesn't say much in the way of witty remarks, and I thought that would make up for it.  As to the Remus getting Silver, see my comment to** Anja10. ** Harry and Ginny got Mrs. Weasley's permission because Harry is like a son to her, and she couldn't sit by and watch him suffer when she knew how to help him.  And Remus did it because he found it extremely hilarious and he knew he would be able to tease Harry for the rest of his life.  I thought that a broommaker would make a great godmother for Harry, glad someone agrees.  As to the sphere... What can I say?  Harry's a clutz at times.  I always knew that Ginny had a Greek Goddess in her, it just took me writing it to make it happen 8).  

**emerald-eyes2: **I was wondering when someone would catch that...  Yes, Harry is the Orb of Power.  Just in case you didn't catch it in this chapter, let me clarify something:  Any Arch-mage can transfer power into another person, but only the Orb can initiate the Arch-mage Transformation.  Harry, Merlin, Morgana, and the rest of the Council, didn't know about Harry becoming the Orb because he never triggered the Transformation until now.  Sorry about posting, I haven't ahd much time to write.  I'll try to do better with the next Chapter.


	13. Back to Hogwarts and Classes

Chapter 13: Back to Hogwarts and Classes

The next day they both clothed themselves in their Hogwarts robes and decided to visit the Burrow before making their way back to Hogwarts.  Ginny wanted to tell her parents in person about her engagement.  Ginny put the earrings in her ears, and put the necklace on her neck and bracelet on her wrist again as Harry put all the boxes into the bag, shrunk the entire thing, including the boxes with their Muggle clothes in them, and pocketed the lot.  He then took Ginny's right hand in his and Apparated them both to the Burrow.  

Everyone was surprised to see them.  Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie had all just sat down for breakfast when Harry and Ginny Apparated in, appearing directly in front of the kitchen table.  When Mrs. Weasley asked them why they had come, Ginny held up her left hand in answer, displaying her engagement ring.  At the sight of the ring, everyone's eyes widened, and Mrs. Weasley let out a short shriek, before flying towards her daughter, enveloping her in a huge hug.  All the Weasley men grinned at this, putting Harry at ease.  When pressed as to how this had occurred, Ginny explained.  She left out Avalon, deciding that she did not need to tell her family everything about her time away, but included how Harry had prepared, and how they arrived at the Leaky Cauldron.  She explained the night away with a dreamy expression on her face, ending with Harry on his knee, and her saying yes.  Mrs. Weasley had tears in her eyes, and Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie were all grinning at Harry.

"Harry, you little sneak," said Bill, speaking for the first time.  "You made me think you were going to be getting my sister a present, not anything like THIS."

Harry grinned at him.  "That was the point, wasn't it?" he returned, earning laughs around the table.

"When are you two going back to school?" asked Mr. Weasley, as they finished breakfast.

"As soon as we leave here," answered Harry.  "I need to take Ginny's exams back to Professor Dumbledore by tonight so he can enter them into her file, and pass off on her starting the sixth year with the rest of us."

"When are you planning the wedding," asked Mrs. Weasley, a bit worried.  "Fifteen and Sixteen seems a bit young to be married, regardless of how much you love each other."

"We haven't discussed it yet mum," replied Ginny truthfully.  "At the earliest, it will be this summer, but we really don't know."

Mrs. Weasley was about to say something, but Mr. Weasley stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, and said, "Well whenever you two think you are ready, you have our blessing, just don't go elope somewhere."

Harry smiling at Ginny said, "I wouldn't do that to Ginny or the rest of the Weasley family.  I care too much for all of you to do something like that."  He turned his gaze from Ginny to Mr. Weasley, his face suddenly serious.  "I respect you and Mrs. Weasley more than that sir."

Mr. Weasley gazed into his eyes for a few moments, and then nodded.  "Well, you two better get back to Hogwarts," he said.  "Congratulations are in order, but I believe that you might be missed if you stay here any longer."  

Ginny hugged both her brothers, her mother and her father.  All of the wished Harry and Ginny congratulations, and then Harry took her hand in his and Apparated to their room.

The next day, Harry and Ginny walked into the Great Hall again, arm in arm.  They were taking quietly to each other, and ignored the looks that they were receiving from the rest of the school, knowing that this was the first time the students were seeing them since Friday morning.  They made their way to their friends and family, and Ginny quickly showed off her earrings and ring.  The girls all squealed in delight and pulled Ginny away from Harry, as far away as she could get, still sitting next to him, and demanded to know what had happened.  Harry, too, was telling the boys what happened since they had disappeared on Friday, well everything that he could reveal anyway.  Harry and Ginny had just finished bringing everyone up to speed when Professor Dumbledore stood, calling for quiet.

"I am pleased to inform you that one of our number has gone far and above the call of duty," he said.  "Miss Weasley has apparently finished her fifth year requirement already and opted to test out of the fifth year.  She received full marks on all of her tests, and will therefore be joining the Sixth Years in classes from now on, that is all."

At his pronouncement, all the students looked at Ginny in surprise.  Fairly soon, people were whispering all over the Hall, and Harry could see that Ginny was getting embarrassed.  Seeing Remus and Matilda get up and walk out of the hall, going towards their classrooms, Harry decided to get Ginny out from under the stares of the school.  "Come on Gin," he said, getting up and waving his wand at several platters on the table, which started floating in the air.  "Let's go have breakfast in the Potions classroom with Matilda.  She'll want to hear about everything."

Smiling in thanks, Ginny got up with Harry and began walking with him out of the hall, their breakfast floating along behind them.  They were out of the Hall and on their way to the dungeons when they noticed that Hermione and Ron were walking behind them.  

"What you didn't think you could escape that easily did you?" asked Ron with a grin when Harry spotted them.  Muttering something about redheaded idiots, they entered the Potions classroom and found that Remus was there as well as Matilda.  The two teachers did not seem surprised to see the group of students walk in, even though Remus looked a bit amused at the floating food.

"Decide you didn't like the look of the Great Hall?" he asked.

"Something like that," replied Harry, setting the food on one of the tables, and heaping food onto a plate.  "I thought you guys would like to hear about everything that went on this weekend."  
  


"So," prompted Matilda, her eyebrow raised.  "What happened?"

In answer, Ginny held up her left hand, allowing the adults to see the diamond ring on her finger.  Remus looked dumbstruck, but Matilda shrieked in excitement, and soon all three women were in a group of their own on one side of the classroom chattering away.

"Harry, don't you think you're a bit young to be thinking about marriage?" asked Remus with a frown on his face.  "I mean… you're only sixteen."

"Actually Remus, technically I'm several thousand year's old," Harry informed his guardian cheerfully, then becoming serious, "I love her Remus. There was no point in waiting until later, nothing's going to change."

Remus sighed, "I know, Harry, it was just a bit of a shock is all."  Then, looking curious he asked, "So, how'd you propose?" 

So Harry told the story about how the lot of them about how he had secretly made all the arrangements over the past two days, and all about their night together, ending when she said yes.  As he spoke, he noticed Remus getting extremely angry.  When he was finished, the werewolf was positively livid.

"HARRY!  Do you know what you've done?" said Remus, no longer able to contain his anger.  "You've doomed us all!"

"What are you talking about?" asked Ron.  "Seems like Harry did everything perfectly," he added.  

"Think about it Ron," pressed Remus.  "Now the girls are either going to be expecting the same thing from us, or wondering why they didn't get it from them."  He pointed at the group of females chattering away excitedly.

Remus opened his mouth to say something else, and then closed it as he heard one of the girls talking.  "Oh Ginny, that ring must be worth a FORTUNE!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Yeah," added Matilda, "aren't you worried that someone would try to steal it?"

"I took care of that," Harry called out, making all three girls look at the male group.  "The first thing I did when we got back to the Leaky Cauldron was put protection spells on the jewelry."

"Jewelry?" said Matilda, her eyes widening.  "You mean you didn't just buy her the ring?"

"No," answered Ginny, a happy smile on her face.  "Harry also bought me a diamond necklace and bracelet and diamond earrings."

"Oh Harry," breathed Matilda, walking over and hugging the young wizard.  "You're perfect, unlike SOME people here," she added, glancing at Remus, who looked extremely uncomfortable.  "Remus didn't do ANYTHING like that, in fact, he still hasn't bought me an engagement ring.  We were waiting until he had a bit more money, then after your parents died…well… we didn't know when we were going to be able to get back together."

"Yes, well, look at the time, I need…. I need to go… get ready for class," said Remus as he quickly scrambled out of the room.  Hermione was staring at Ginny's ring with a dreamy expression on her face, and Ron was glaring at Harry behind Matilda's back.  Harry, noticing this, started edging closer to his girlfriend.  

Ginny, seeing that Harry was uncomfortable about something but not knowing what exactly, quickly crossed the room and snuggled close to him.  Before anyone else could say anything, the door opened, and the class began to file in.  Harry waved his wand at their breakfast, sending the remains back to the kitchen.

Ron and Hermione sat down in front next to Harry and Ginny, unpacking their things.  The rest of the class sat down and Matilda started talking about the potion they would be making.  Harry and Ginny were both whispering to each other, however, not paying attention.

"I think that the other guys are a bit angry at me," he said softly, so that only Ginny could hear him.

"Why would that be?" she asked just as softly, leaning close to him with a contented sigh.

"They think I over did it last night and think that all the others will expect just as much as what I gave you," he answered.  "They're nervous because they can't afford to do everything that I did."

"Hmm.." she said.  "Well, don't worry about it.  The girls are all just excited about our engagement and-,"

"Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley!" said Matilda, breaking into their conversation.  "Are you two paying attention?"

"Sorry Professor," said Harry and Ginny, although they did not break apart.

Matilda pursed her lips.  _Perhaps I shouldn't be too easy on him, even though he's my godson._ "Fine Mr. Potter, then since you two think that you don't need to listen, perhaps you could tell me about the Wolf's Bane potion, if you can't I'll be forced to take points from Gryffindor."  At her words, Malfoy grinned at Harry; sure that he would see Gryffindor loose points.

"Of course Professor," said Harry immediately.  "The Wolf's Bane potion is used to combat the Werewolf's Bite.  There are three different forms of the potion, each with its own unique properties.  The most common is the potion that gives a person who has been bitten the ability to control themselves after they have changed.  I believe that Professor Lupin has been taking this."  Harry looked at Matilda, who nodded and motioned Harry to continue.  "The second form of the potion is administered to newly bitten people, before the first full moon when they transform, which cures them of the Bite.  The last and most rare form of the potion is used to give full control of…" at that Harry broke off, his eyes widening.  "…To give full control of... werewolf transformation to existing werewolves, which also gives them control of themselves when they transform," he finished softly.

Matilda was staring at Harry with wide eyes.  "Harry," she asked shakily, forgetting to distance herself from the boy she thought of as her own son.  "Where did you hear about… about that third..."

"I read about it," said Harry, giving her a look that clearly told her to drop the matter until later.

"Well then," said Matilda, understanding and moving on.  "Since you have answered correctly, no points will be deducted."

"That's not fair!" exclaimed Malfoy, before he could stop himself.  "POTTER and WEASLEY over there have not been listening in class, and have been acting INAPPROPRIATELY in a class setting!  OF COURSE he knew about that potion if LUPIN was taking it."

Matilda quickly stepped towards the blond Slytherine boy and glared at him.  "That will be quite enough Mr. Malfoy.  Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley will not be penalized simply because I, Professor Stormcloud, TOLD THEM that they would not be if they could answer correctly.  NOW SIT DOWN."

After that, Harry and Ginny quickly took out their things, and began brewing the potion that Matilda had put up on the board, not paying attention to the instructions that the teacher was calling out.  They quickly finished, then went back to their conversation.  Matilda noticed this, and thought about their behavior thus far, agreeing that she could not show Harry special treatment and that if Harry and Ginny's potion was not perfect, she would be forced to deduct points from Gryffindor.

Harry and Ginny, oblivious to this fact, were still talking when the rest of class had finished.  Matilda walked around the classroom, checking on the potion that she had assigned.  Finally, she got to Harry and Ginny.

"Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, I must say I am disappointed with the two of you," said Matilda, not looking at their potion.  "The whole class you were goofing off, and you haphazardly made your Sleeping Drought."

"The potion was brewed perfectly Professor," said Harry, surprised that his godmother would even think of such a thing.  "If you don't believe me, I'll take it myself."

"Why don't you let Weasley take it Potter," called Malfoy from his seat.  "That way if something goes wrong, you'll be awake to pay for her medical bills."

"That's enough Mr. Malfoy," said Matilda, directing a glare at the boy once more.  "If I hear one more word out of you, you will have your Prefect's status revoked, and be serving detention."  That shut Malfoy up quickly.  "If you are so sure of your abilities Mr. Potter, why don't you let Miss Weasley take the potion?"

Harry shrugged and poured a bit of the amber liquid into the goblet that Matilda conjured up.  He noticed that she was looking a bit nervous.  Ginny, fully trusting Harry's abilities, as well as her own, took the goblet and drank it all.  She was the only person who had actually TRIED the potion; the teacher had just graded the rest of the class on the look of it.  Matilda did notice that Harry and Ginny's potion was the correct color and consistency, but she had decided that she should teach Harry a lesson about taking her class seriously.  As soon as Ginny had taken the potion, she snuggled comfortably against Harry, and drifted off to sleep.

Matilda was astounded.  She had been sure that it was impossible to make the Sleeping Draught in the time that Harry and Ginny had made it.  Making sure that Matilda saw the effects of the potion, Harry pulled out his wand.

"Enervate," he said, pointing his wand at his sleeping fiancé.  Immediately, Ginny opened her eyes and smiled drowsily up at him.

"Well, it seems that we owe the two of you an apology Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley," said Matilda, shaking herself out of the surprised stupor that she had been in.  "I believe ten points to Gryffindor is in order, for that wonderful demonstration of the Sleeping Drought.  I would like to talk to the two of you after class, which is," at that she looked at her watch, "now.  Please stay you two, the rest of you may go, good job today."  

Everyone gathered their things, and quickly left, leaving Harry and Ginny to face the beautiful raven-haired woman.

"Harry," said Matilda.  "How did you make that potion?  You two didn't listen to a thing I said, and Ginny did as much as you did!"

"Well, I kinda taught Ginny a bit more than the fifth year," said Harry, confirming Ginny's growing suspicions.  "I went ahead and taught her the sixth year curriculum as well."

"Fine, that explains that, but what was all that about a third type of Wolf's Bane Potion," asked Matilda, a hopeful, yet fearful expression on her beautiful face.  "I've only heard of two types."

"The third is an extremely old, complex variation," answered Harry, confusing the woman further.

"I thought that Wolf's Bane Potion was fairly new," said Matilda.

"Actually it is the opposite.  It's very OLD," Harry informed the Potion's teacher.  "Circe came up with it for her husband.  Those 'new' versions of it WERE created just recently, but they were derived from the true Wolf's Bane Potion which has only been brewed a handful of times."

"I thought you said Circe didn't act on her love," said Ginny with a frown on her beautiful face.

"She didn't," said Harry.  "That's why Silvermane got bitten.  After he received the bite and started suffering each and every month, Circe knew that she loved him and couldn't bear to be without him, so she created a potion to cure him, well cure him as much as possible.  Silvermane is now an Arch-mage, but don't ask me what his real name is.  After he became a werewolf, he would not go by any other name.  He and Circe are quite happy now," he added, smiling at Matilda who was shaking, tears running down her face.

"Do-Do you think you could m-make a batch of the real potion?" she asked shakily.  "I-Is it possible for R-Remus t-to-,"

"Yes Matty, I can make the potion," said Harry getting up and giving the woman a hug.  "I would have done it sooner if it had occurred to me."

"OH THANK YOU HARRY," she sobbed, hugging him tightly and crying uncontrollably into his shoulder.  "Oh, has anyone ever told you how much of a jewel you are?  Ginny, you better make DAMN sure no one steals him away, or I'll be after you…" she warned.

"Don't worry Matty," said Ginny with a smile as she gathered their things.  "There is no possibility of THAT ever occurring.  And I hope the you're not mad at us.  Classes aren't really a problem for us right now, and Harry had something that he needed to talk about with me.  We didn't mean to cause a disturbance."

"Yes… about that," said Matilda with a pretty frown on her face.  "From now on you two sit at the back of the class, so that you don't get so much attention.  That way, as long as the two of you get your potions done, no one will have to be the wiser."

"Thanks Matilda," said Harry hugging her.  "You're the best godmother in the world!"

Matilda laughed and hugged Harry back.  "You two better go to Defense against the dark arts," she said.  "And if Moony gives you any grief, just send him to US."

Harry and Ginny quickly made their way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and entered quietly.  Ron and Hermione had obviously told the former Marauder why Harry and Ginny had been held up, because the class was sitting and waiting patiently.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, please come in and take a seat," said Remus pleasantly.  There were two spaces in the front, which Harry and Ginny quickly, sitting close together on the bench.  "Now that everyone is here, we can begin."

"After Mr. Potter's extremely IMPRESSIVE display with Dementors, we have decided to skip those lessons, and move on to curses," said Remus with a grin on his face.

"Now I know that all of you COULD use these spells outside of class, but if wind gets out that someone has done so, then things will be rather… UNPLEASANT for them for the remainder of the year," informed Remus, a serious look on his face.  "The only reason why you are being taught these curses, is so that you will know enough to be able to counteract them should you face them in the future."  With that warning, their first Defense against the Dark Arts lesson began.


	14. The Wolf’s Bane Potion

OK. Quick note here.  I wanted to thank all my faithful fans out there who have kept up at me to continue, if not for you, I probably would have let the Council of Archmages fall to the wayside.  The reason why I haven't updated in so long is a combination of lots of work, and an annoying case of writer's block.  Hopefully updating in the future will not take so long, but I can't promise anything right now.  With that said, hope you enjoy..

Mirengard

Chapter 14: The Wolf's Bane Potion

The next few days were fairly normal.  Harry and Ginny had quickly become inseparable.    They seemed to do everything together, and everyone at school was astounded that they had not gotten totally sick of each other.  They were always seen walking the halls, arm in arm, and had even convinced Professor McGonnogall to allow them to make their sweeps of the castle together, even though neither had duty until the following week.  As soon as they got back to the Gryffindor Tower, they went to their room, and their friends became somewhat annoyed at the couple.

Harry and Ginny were curled up on their couch, enjoying each other's embrace, when they heard a knock at their door.  Harry lazily waived his hand at the door, making it unlock and open, and Ron and Hermione walked in.

"I thought you two said you were going to do homework," said Hermione accusingly.  

"We already finished," said Ginny carelessly.  "It wasn't that hard really."

"YOU finished it ALL?" asked Ron in disbelief.  "It's only been a HALF HOUR since dinner ended!  Not even Hermoine has it ALL done."

"No, actually I still have a lot to do," she said sounding a bit worried.

"Well what do you two want me to say?" asked Harry.  "I can't help it that I'm an Arch-mage.  I've already covered this stuff, and I've been helping Ginny keep a little ahead of the class."  Ginny looked at him carefully at his words.  She did not understand why he wanted to keep the fact that she had already completed the sixth year from them.

"Yes, Harry's been a lot of help," she said, playing along.  "Why, without him, I probably would never get all this work done."  This seemed to mollify the other two prefects.

"Well, that's not why we came here anyway," said Ron.

"Yes, we came here to ask if the two of you wanted to come with us on our sweep of the castle.  It's our night tonight, and we need to be leaving soon.  We thought it would be a chance for us all to catch up, we haven't had a chance to hang around lately," Hermoine put in.

Harry thought about that for a moment, and then said, "I would love to go guys, but there's a few things I have to do tonight.  Why don't you go with them though?" he asked Ginny.  "That way the three of you can catch up, and I'll be able to concentrate on.on what I'm working on."  _I need to finish the Wolf's Bane Potion tonight Gin,_ he sent to her.  _If I don't the whole batch will be ruined.  It will take the rest of the night to finish._

"If it's all the same to you Harry, I think I'll stay," said Ginny, further annoying Ron and Hermione.  "I haven't had a nice long soak in the bath in a while, and I think I would enjoy taking it easy tonight."

"Are you sure," asked Hermione, still hopeful.

"Yeah, go ahead without us," said Ginny, ignoring the angry look on her brother's face.  "We'll catch up soon, I promise."  Ron stormed out, and Hermoine quietly followed, a hurt expression on her face.  Ginny jumped up from Harry's lap crossed to the door, closed it, and locked it again, then turned to Harry.  "I wanted to watch you finish the Potion," she told him, picking up Midnight and sitting down in the chair next to Harry.  "I promise I won't get in your way."

"Gin, you couldn't get in the way if you tried," Harry informed her, pulling out his wand and pointing it towards the floor before the fire place.  A large cauldron appeared there over a blue flame that seemed to heat the cauldron but not affect anything else.  The liquid in the cauldron was bubbling uncontrollably.  Harry gazed at it, and nodded.  "It's just about ready for the final ingredients," he informed her, getting up, and walking towards his desk.  He waived his wand over the desk, and a large assortment of Potion ingredients appeared on the desktop that had been empty before.

Each night for the past four days, ever since their first Potions class, Harry and Ginny had gone up to their room, then Disapparated away from Hogwarts, in search of the numerous ingredients for the Wolf's Bane Potion.  While Ginny did not exactly know what they were looking for most of the time, she had kept Harry company.  Finally, yesterday they had gathered enough of the ingredients to start brewing the complex potion, and Harry had somehow obtained the final ingredients himself, even though Ginny had almost never left his side the entire week.

Harry pointed at several packets of powder, as well as several vials of various liquids, making them float behind him, as he walked back to the cauldron.  He carefully added each ingredient, making sure that he measured each precisely, then pulled his Staff out of the air and began to mutter spells above the cauldron.  Every so often, a beam of light would shoot out of the jewels on Harry's Staff and make the potion glow briefly, then fade away.  Each time this happened, the potion turned a different color.  Finally, Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a lock of grayish-brown hair.  He tossed it into the cauldron, making the contents fizzle angrily before settling down.  He cast one last spell on the cauldron, but this one was different.  A beam of silver light shot out of the jewels on Harry's Staff, and connected with the liquid in the Cauldron, making the liquid glow silver, but this time it did not quit.  Harry let go of his Staff, which did not move in the slightest, nor did it disappear. It just kept on pouring that sliver light into the liquid in the cauldron.  Harry smiled at Ginny who was staring at his Staff in surprise and stroking Midnight, causing the kitten to purr.  

"I thought you said it would take the rest of the night," said Ginny still looking at the Staff in confusion.

"It will," said Harry sitting down next to her and petting Midnight as well.  "The Staff will be doing that for the next several hours, and while it is completing the potion, I can't get too far away from it."  At Ginny's questioning look, he explained.  "The spells that I cast were all parts of one big meta-type spell.  I just finished it, so the Staff is casting it.  The spell takes a very long time to complete after being cast, and requires a large amount of power as well.  As long as I stay relatively close to the Staff, I supply the power needed through my blood bond, which I have and can spare."

Ginny thought about this.  "How close to the Staff do you need to be without jeopardizing the spell?" she asked a bit too casually.

"Oh about a hundred feet in any direction," came Harry's answer as he stretched his back.

"You know," said Ginny.  "You've really been working hard the past couple of day's haven't you?"

"MmHmm," Harry agreed still stretching tiredly.

"You really deserve to be able to relax now that you are finished with the potion," she said innocently.  This time, Harry caught the tone of her voice.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked, looking at her and raising his eyebrow.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how a nice hot soak in the bath would be extremely relaxing right about now," she said, a bit too innocently.  Ginny put the now sleeping kitten on the bed, and then slowly got up.  "I think I'll just go in for a bit Harry," she informed him in that too innocent voice.  "I hope you find something to relax yourself."  Then she left him alone, going into the bathroom.

Harry considered Ginny's somewhat blatant offer for a few minutes then made a decision. Taking off his robes and putting them away, he crossed to the bathroom and went in.  Ginny was in the large, steaming bath with her eyes closed.  Harry got in, and made his way to her quietly, settling down beside her.

"Find something to relax you?" she asked, opening her eyes and gazing at him.

"Yeah, I think I figured out something to do," Harry answered her, slipping his now wet arm around her shoulders and pulling her head towards him in a kiss.  It started as a quick kiss, but quickly turned into something else.  In fact, both Harry and Ginny ended up slipping under water during the kiss, and both had to come up out of the water for air, before kissing again.  They were in the middle of the tub, as they started kissing the second time, this time not even trying to be quick.  Harry's arms slipped around Ginny's waist, and Ginny's arms slinked their way around Harry's neck.  They broke away again, after several minutes, their breath coming out raggedly.  Harry took Ginny by the hand and led her to the seat in the hot bath, where he sat down, motioning Ginny to sit next to him.  Ginny, though, had other ideas.  Straddling his waist with her legs, she knelt down in his lap, her arms snaking around his neck once again pulling him close.  She had an extremely wild, lustful look in her eyes. 

 "Gin." Harry breathed, but Ginny silenced him with her lips.  

His arms soon slipped around her waist again, pulling her close to him, the feeling of her large firm breasts and hard nipples against his chest driving Harry insane.  The fact that both of them were wet as well, just seemed to be icing on the cake, and Harry found himself rock hard despite himself.  Ginny, just as turned on, slowly grinded against Harry, making him even harder, and causing them to both gasp as they broke their kiss again.  Harry ran his hands up and down Ginny's spine, making her gasp again and arch her back, grinding her hips against Harry's crotch even more.  Not even thinking anymore, Harry began to kiss Ginny's sensitive neck, even as Ginny did the same for him, her hands moving from his neck to his chest, then lower.  

Finally, Harry kissed Ginny, pulling her up by her waist, while Ginny still stroked him.  Then, as they kissed, Ginny slowly settled back down, but this time, she moved slightly and Harry felt himself lightly brush Ginny.  

The first penetration caused them both to gasp.  Slowly moving up and down, making sure not to hurt her, Harry quickly felt himself press against Ginny's maidenhood.  There he paused briefly, gazing into Ginny's eyes.  In answer, Ginny pushed down, clutching to Harry as she felt the shocking pain.  After several moments of not moving, the pain passed, and she began to gyrate her hips, making Harry groan.  Harry quickly turned the tables on her when his mouth captured one of her nipples, and Ginny found herself groaning in turn, arching her back so that Harry could have better access to her breasts.  She started moving again, and soon the two of them were totally lost within their own desires.

Harry woke up with the familiar feeling of Ginny's warm body against him.  He smiled as he thought that he had never slept so well until they had started sleeping together.  He leaned down and kissed her awake as he always did, the previous evening's activities resurfacing in his mind.  When he and Ginny broke their good morning kiss, and she smiled up at him, he relaxed.  Ginny shifted slightly then winced, causing Harry worry he had hurt her.

"Are you ok?" he asked, not wanting to think of the possibility that he had been the reason of any pain that she faced.

"Just a bit sore," she replied, rolling off him, and slowly getting up.  She winced again as she sat up, and then she smiled down at him.  "You really worked me you know, I lost count of how many times I screamed," she informed him.  "It's not surprising that I can't walk straight."

 "You were planning that," said Harry, he didn't seem shocked shocked in the least.

"Planning?  No, Hoping for?  Definitely," she said, grinning impishly.  "I mean, come on Harry, we might have been together for just a few weeks to everyone else, but to us, we've been together for what? Over two years now?"

"How did you know we spent two years at Avalon?" asked Harry, although he did not seem surprised that she knew.

"I figured it out around the time you finally revealed that you taught me all of sixth year as well as fifth year," she admitted.

Harry grinned, and pulled her into a kiss.  "My clever Ginny," he said once they broke apart.  "Why don't you go soak in the bath for a bit while I check on the Wolf's Bane potion? He asked, "It might help the soreness."  

Ginny smiled in thanks and shakily got to her feet, then awkwardly walked to the bathroom, disappearing from view.  Harry got up, and put a robe around himself, then walked to the Cauldron and his Staff which was still pouring light into the cauldron, this time a bright gold, signaling that the potion was almost complete.  He grasped his Staff, and felt his connection to it flare to life as he always did when touching it.  He felt the spell working as soon as he touched the Staff as well and knew that there were only a few more minutes until it was complete.  He waited patiently until the spell had finished and lowered his Staff, looking into the cauldron.  The potion appeared to be completely clear, and gave off a pleasant smell.  Harry conjured up a small goblet and dipped it into the cauldron, knowing that the potion would have no effect on anyone who had not been bitten by a werewolf.  He brought the goblet to his lips and drank deeply.  It tasted as it was supposed to: a cross between honeysuckle and strawberries.  _Why can't any of the normal potions taste this good?_ he asked himself silently.  Sighing, he quickly conjured a large bottle and a ladle, and slowly, carefully the ladle filled the bottle, a stopper appearing in it when the bottle was full.  He then conjured up two large goblets, banishing the smaller one, and the ladle filled them with the potion.  "Might as well not let it go for waste," he said, letting go of his Staff, which immediately went invisible to everyone but him.  He picked up the goblets, and walked into the bathroom and back into the bath that he and Ginny had occupied the previous night.  Settling down beside her with a contented sigh, he pushed one of the goblets into her hand.  When she felt the goblet, Ginny opened her eyes, and grasped it.

"What is this?" she asked, taking a sip.  "It tastes wonderful."

"It's Wolf's Bane Potion," he answered.  "Don't worry, it doesn't have any effects as long as you haven't been bitten."  He took a sip of his own to prove his point.

"Oh, I just want to lie and soak here all day," groaned Ginny, leaning on Harry's chest while Harry put an arm around her shoulders.  "How long until Classes start?" she asked, drinking from her goblet.

"It's about six right now," replied Harry, "So we have about two hours before we need to be down at breakfast.  I wanted to be up early to check on the Wolf's Bane Potion."

"Ooh, goody," said Ginny with a contented smile, "That means we can have a nice long soak before breakfast.  Do you think you can slow down time in here for a bit?"   Harry nodded and grasped his Staff briefly, casting the now familiar time spells.  Then, after drinking from her goblet again Ginny looked at him, "How much more of this do we have?" she asked eagerly.

Harry laughed.  "Plenty love," he said kissing her cheek.  "We have plenty."

A little over two hours later, Harry and Ginny walked into the Great Hall, Harry carrying a large bottle of clear liquid.  Everyone watched with interest as both walked down the center of the room and straight up to the Staff Table.  The hour and a half or so soak in steaming hot water did the trick and Ginny moved normally, even though it was not quite comfortable to move yet.  She just ignored the pain, finding that she had the same ability as Harry now that she had survived the Test of Pain.  The young couple stopped in front of Professors Lupin and Stormcloud who both looked at them in surprise.  

"True Wolf's Bane Potion, as promised," Harry said as he put the bottle down.  Remus, as well as the rest of the staff looked confused, but Matilda's eyes widened in surprise.

"You-You've made it already," breathed Matilda.

"Yeah," said Harry grinning.  "Ginny and I have been working on this potion non-stop for the past several days."

"What exactly does the potion do Harry," asked Remus, looking at the large bottle with interest at his words.  Anything that Harry and Ginny had worked on for so long had to be important after all.

Harry looked from Remus to Matilda in surprise, the latter looking a bit guilty.  "Matilda didn't tell you?" he asked, forgetting to speak of her as a professor.

"Tell him what, exactly Mr. Potter?" asked Professor McGonnogall, interest apparent in her voice.  "What does that potion DO?"

Harry looked down the Staff Table.  The entire Staff, including Professor Snape, was looking at him and Ginny with interest.  "Oh, it doesn't do much," Harry downplayed.  "It just grants werewolves control over their transformations, and gives them total control over themselves while transformed, which basically makes them animagi, except they transform into werewolves instead of regular beasts."  At his words, Remus began to tremble, and the entire Staff looked at Harry in obvious surprise. 

"Impossible," breathed Snape.  "No such potion exists, I would have known if it did."

"It DOES exist, and it's sitting right in front of Remus," countered Harry, somewhat annoyed.  "If you don't believe me, have Remus drink the potion to prove it, what's the worst that could happen?"

"It could KILL HIM for one," said Snape automatically, refusing to believe that Harry, Arch-mage or not, could make a decent potion.

"It won't kill him," said Ginny.  "Harry and I have been drinking it all morning, since it was ready, and we're fine."  At her words, Remus looked at the bottle excitedly.

"What do I have to do?" he asked, eagerly.

"Just drink the entire bottle," said Harry, "all at once, as quick as possible.  As soon as you've finished, you'll feel the effects immediately."

At Harry's words, Remus quickly pulled the stopper from the bottle and began to drink the potion, especially after he tasted it.  Pausing every so often, he quickly drained the bottle as the entire school looked on expectantly.  As soon as he finished the bottle and set it down, he began to glow a bright silver color.  Several people in the hall gasped at this, but Remus had an amazed look on his face.  Before their eyes, Remus began to change, the lines on his face disappearing, and his gray hair slowly coloring to a dark brown.  He looked as young as Sirius had seemed again.  Finally, he stopped glowing.  He laughed excitedly and leaped out of his chair, jumping across the Staff Table, changing into a huge wolf in mid jump, and landed on four paws in front of Ginny.  He quickly stood on hind legs and put his forepaws on her shoulders before she could bolt, she looked extremely nervous.  He quickly licked her face, causing Ginny to giggle, and then he did the same to Harry who had been standing calmly with a small smile on his face throughout the entire transformation.  Harry laughed as well when he felt Remus lick his face, then Remus leaped over the Staff Table, again changing in mid-leap, and stood in front of the entire amazed room proudly.  He pulled Matilda up into his arms and kissed her deeply and passionately, not caring where they were, or who saw them.  Loud cheers broke out across the hall at this, but for once, the couple did not care, and kept on kissing.

Ignoring the couple, Harry glanced along the Staff Table to see their reactions.  Most of them were stunned, including Snape, whose mouth was open, and eyes were wide.  Professor Dumbledore was smiling at Harry and Ginny, as was Professor McGonnogall.  Harry grinned at Ginny, who smiled back, then led her to the Gryffindor table as if nothing had happened.  Ron and Hermione both rushed to them, almost suffocating them with hugs.

"We're so sorry," cried Hermione tears streaming down her face.  "We all thought that the two of you were so into yourselves that you didn't want to hang out with us anymore."

"Yeah," said Ron, HIS face wet with tears too.  "If we had known. How did you DO it?"

"Later Ron," said Harry softly, noting that almost everyone in the Great Hall had cocked an ear towards Harry and Ginny at this question, well everyone except Matilda and Remus, who were still kissing.  Harry watched as Professor McGonnogall finally pulled them apart so that she could embrace Remus as well.  "Right now I just want to sit down and eat some food." 

Noticing the numerous students and Staff looking towards the group of friends, Ron quickly nodded and the group sat down on the benches.  Harry and Ginny quickly made a show of putting food on their plates and eating.  They all ate silently, then went to class, agreeing to meet in Harry and Ginny's room after dinner without a word between them.  

Classes that day were a joyous affair.  Right after Breakfast the Gryffindors had Double Potions with the Slytherines.  Matilda was so happy that as soon as Harry and Ginny walked in, they were both swept up into monstrous hugs that threatened to crush them, which they both returned wholeheartedly.  The Professor declared the class a free day and spent the entire time talking to Harry and Ginny with Ron and Hermione there as well.  She did not ask about the potion, but Harry sensed her eagerness and curiosity, so he telepathically sent her, as well as Remus of course, invitations to His and Ginny's room after dinner.

"Harry, Ginny, I don't know how to thank you," Matilda said finally.  "What you've done. it means more to Remus and I than you could possibly know.  You've made a dream come true!"

Harry smiled and hugged Matilda close again.  "You don't have to thank us Matty," he said.  "We were happy to do it."

"That potion must have cost you a fortune to make," said Matilda, looking from Harry to Ginny.  "If I knew you were going to brew it, I would have paid for-,"

"Don't worry about how much it cost," interrupted Harry.  "However much it cost was worth every Knut when I saw your and Moony's expressions today at breakfast this morning."

"But Harry," protested Matilda.  "You shouldn't have to-,"

"Why not," asked Ginny.  "Harry and I have more money than we could possibly use in our lifetimes, no matter how long we live, and how many children we have.  Heck, even I don't know how rich Harry is.  Why shouldn't we use our money to help our family?  You DO know that you and Remus are our family don't you Matty?"  At her words, Matilda started bawling again, and soon Ginny and Hermione had joined in, all hugging each other.

"Women," Ron muttered to Harry.  "They're all bonkers."

Harry grinned at his statement, then said quietly, "Oh by the way, mate I've been thinking about your little engagement problem and I think I've figured out a way for you and Remus to top me.  Want to hear about it?"  At Ron's excited nod, Harry went on whispering into his ear.  Ron's eyes got wider and wider as Harry outlined his idea then, after Harry had finished, he grinned widely.

"Perfect," he breathed.

After lunch, the Gryffindor fifth years went out on the grounds for Care of Magical Creatures, which they had with Ravenclaw.  When they reached Hagrid's hut, he beamed down at Harry and Ginny.

"Tha' was a righ' nice thing you two did, y'know tha' righ?  I'm proud of yeah," he said.  Then he turned to the class and said.  "Cuz of wha' happened today, we're gonna study werewolves.  Professor Lupin has agreed ta transform for us so you lot can see a werewolf up close safely."

At that, he gestured to his cabin door where Remus had appeared grinning at all the students.  "If any of you are afraid, don't worry, I don't bite anymore," he said cheerfully, then transformed into the huge wolf and walked towards Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny.  Harry and Ginny both eagerly petted him, and scratched him behind the ears, making him pant and his tail wag.  Emboldened by the two, Ron and Hermione also came and began to pet the werewolf, who soon rolled onto his back, allowing the four laughing teenagers to rub his belly.  Once all the rest of the students saw how friendly he was, even if he was a werewolf, they all approached the werewolf form of Professor Lupin tentatively at first, then more readily when he licked faces and made sure to be very gentle with everyone who touched him.  

Soon, the laughing, happy group of students all made their way to their respective Commons rooms to relax before dinner.  Harry and Ginny both made sure to stay and chat with the rest of the Gryffindors in the Commons rooms for the first time since the first night back.  Most of their housemates questions were about the miraculous changes that happened to Harry and Ginny both, as well as the Wolf's Bane potion, but both of them avoided some of the questions, downplayed the answers to others, and flat out lied to the rest.  As soon as it was time for dinner, Harry and Ginny made their way down to the Great Hall in good spirits.


	15. The Sorcerer's Web

Chapter 15: The Sorcerer's Web

That night after dinner, the two couples quickly made their way to Gryffindor Tower and up to Harry and Ginny's room.  Remus and Matilda were waiting for them.  Remus was looking at the door to the room in obvious annoyance.  "Harry, your door's stuck," he said trying to open it again.

"It's locked," replied Harry.  When Ginny looked at him curiously, he added.  "Only Ginny and I can open it if no one's in the room.

"We tried the unlocking spell," Remus argued, still looking at the door in frustration.  "It didn't work.

"It isn't supposed to," replied Harry, gently pushing his guardian out of the way and easily turning the doorknob and opening the door.  He motioned everyone in, and grabbed Ginny around the waist as she passed, making her giggle.  As everyone entered, they looked around the room.  The cauldron was still in front of the fireplace, but Harry had put out the blue flame.  The various ingredients for the potion were scattered around the room, the last set of ingredients that Harry had added the night before tossed carelessly on the floor by the cauldron.  Matilda glanced towards the ingredients with interest.

"Are those all the things you used for the Potion?" asked Matilda excitedly.  "It would be an awfully useful potion to be able to make.

"Unfortunately only an Arch-mage can make it," replied Harry pointing his wand at the mess on his desk and the mess in front of the fire place, making them all zoom into one of his desk drawers.  The cauldron slowly shrank until it was the size of those of the students normal cauldron, which landed on his desk against the wall, looking to all the world as if it were propping up Harry's sixth year spell books which were lined up neatly on the back of his desk.  "It requires an enormous amount of power, as well as several complex spells that you won't find in any book.  As I told you before, it was only used a handful of times in the past.

"When everyone hears about it, they're going to demand that you produce more," Remus warned Harry, pulling Matilda down into a chair with him.  Everyone quickly followed their example, Harry and Ginny occupying their now favorite chair.  Midnight quickly jumped into Ginny's lap, begging for attention.  Ginny quickly gave it to her beloved half-kneezle cat.  Midnight had grown in the few weeks that Ginny had owned her, and was now a beautiful adolescent cat.

"When everyone hears what?" asked Harry, as he too scratched the cat behind the ears, making her purr ecstatically.  "No one will believe that Remus has been cured, it's never been done before, so no one is going to believe that a sixth year student, whether or not it's me, could do what countless witches and wizards have tried to do for centuries.

"Don't be so sure," countered Remus quietly.  "The wizarding world will believe almost whatever the media will tell them.  You could easily have a large number of bitten witches and wizards demanding that you cure them.  This could become a big problem for you, Harry, and I feel a bit responsible.

"Don't worry about it," replied Harry waiving his concern off.  "It doesn't matter to me whether I have a thousand werewolves coming to me, or zero.  It's all worth having you and Matilda finally at peace.

Remus was choked up at Harry's reply and could only nod.  Ginny smiled up at Harry extremely proud of her fiancŽ.  Harry quickly turned everyone's attention to a different subject, however.  "Have any of you noticed anythingÉnot normal going on around the castle?" he asked.

"What sort of things?" asked Ron with a frown on his face.  "What should we be looking out for?

"OhÉ students not acting themselves, a group of students out after hours, that sort of thing," replied Harry vaguely.

"You mean besides the people in this room, right?" asked Matilda with a smile, and then her face became serious.  "No, I haven't noticed anything, but I don't particularly know the students that well yet, Remus?

Remus thought about it for a while, then said.  "Mr. Malfoy and his gang are acting extremelyÉ laid back as of late.  I thought before now that it was due to the threat that Minerva gave him at the beginning of school, but now I'm not so sure.

"Yeah," broke in Ron.  "He hasn't teased us NEARLY as much as he usually does, and he could say a whole lot more about our relationships than he does.  He hasn't even called Hermione a Mudblood yet.  Everyone was shocked to hear Ron say the filthy word that he loathed so casually, but quickly turned back to the subject at hand.

"I saw Millicent Bulstode out at night as I was making my rounds one night, I don't think Ron saw her because we had split up that night to make out rounds go faster since we had a lot of Transfiguration homework to finish," said Hermione, looking thoughtful.  "When I confronted her, she said that she had thought that that night was her night, and that she was mistaken.  I led her back to the Slytherin Commons Room to make sure she went there, and stood outside their entrance for several minutes, but I didn't take points off for the mishap.

Harry, after hearing this, cursed vehemently.  Ginny slapped him on the arm, making him look down at her apologetically.  "Sorry," he said to her, and then he turned back to the group.  "That's what I was afraid of," he informed them.  "Looks like the children of the Death Eaters are trying to set up something here in Hogwarts, and I'd bet my broomstick that it has something to do with Death Eaters getting into the castle.

"We'll inform Professor Dumbledore about the secret passages that no one knows about immediately," said Remus.

"Don't bother," said Harry carelessly.  "I've already taken care of them.  There are powerful spells now within each one so that only those of us in this room, as well as Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall can go through them safely.  If any other person tries to enter into the castle using any of those passages, they will be trapped behind extremely powerful shields, and I will be alerted as to the intrusion.

"When did you do that?" asked Ginny in surprise.  "I've been with you almost the entire week and I've never even so much as SEEN you go into any secret passageway.

"I did it after you went to sleep on Tuesday," Harry replied, then seeing the annoyed look on Ginny's face, added, "I didn't take you with me, because it occurred to me to secure those passages AFTER you fell asleep, and you looked so peaceful that I didn't want to wake you.  When she heard his logical explanation, Ginny softened her expression.

"So how do you think that the Death Eaters will try and get in-," started Matilda, but she broke off as Harry suddenly jumped out of the chair he and Ginny were sitting in, making Ginny and Midnight fall to the floor with a large THUMP.

"They're here," he said quickly before Disapparating away.

Remus cursed, and then pulled out a parchment from his robes along with his wand.  Touching the tip of his wand on the parchment, he said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," then looked down at the Marauder's map looking for his godson.  "I've found him," he said to the group.  "He's in the dungeons, moving towards a large group of Death Eaters led by Lucius Malfoy.  They are in the Potions classroom with Severus.  This can't be good.

Looking around the room, he noticed the determined looks in everyone's eyes.  "Ron, Hermione, Go get Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall, Ginny, go get-," but broke off when he saw the expression on her face.  "Right, Matty, go get Professor Flitwick.  Ginny, you follow me, so we can kill my idiot of a charge for scaring us all like that.

Everyone quickly left, going to his or her respective places.  Remus led Ginny through several secret passages that not even the twins knew about, and they quickly made their way to the dungeons, catching up with Harry as he entered the Potion's Classroom.  The rest of the group as well as the three teachers that they went to fetch soon joined them, everyone stopping short at what they saw.

There were easily fifty Death Eaters in the room, all their wands pointed at Severus Snape, who was tied down onto one of the few tables that had not been broken.  Snape's robes were shredded and there were several deep cuts all along his body with blood leaking from them.  He was screaming a bloodcurdling scream and writhing as much as he was able to in his condition as several Death Eaters performed the Cruciatus curse on him.  What made everyone stop short however was the Golden half sphere of light surrounding the large group.  Lucius Malfoy, the only Death Eater without his mask on and the hood of his black cloak up, noticed the new arrivals.

"Ah Mr. Potter, Professors so nice that you could come down and witness out little execution," he said brightly.

"There's not going to be any execution tonight, Malfoy," said Harry calmly, despite the gruesome scene that was before him.

"Well, you see, that is where you are wrong, Mr. Potter," said Lucius smugly.  "You don't know what this protective barrier is, do you?

"Of course I do, its a Sorcerer's Web," replied Harry calmly, making Dumbledore draw in a ragged breathe.  Lucius looked taken aback at Harry's pronouncement.  Everyone else looked a bit confused, but noticed Dumbledore's reaction to Harry's declaration and their confusion quickly turned to worry.

"Well if you know what a Sorcerer's Web is, you know that it is quite impossible to pass through, and that only those who cast the web will be able to perform any magic inside the barrier," said Lucius, a smug expression returning to his face once again.  "My Master thought it a good protection from you're new found strength.

"Is that true Harry?" asked Ginny worried, and when he did not answer, she looked up at Dumbledore.  "Professor, is that true?

Dumbledore looked down at her, and then nodded tightly.  "Yes Miss Weasley, that is quite true," he said his voice full of sorrow at the thought that he would not be able to help the wizard being tortured to death.

Harry, not even hearing Ginny's question, had opened his senses fully for the first time since he returned from Avalon.  He noticed all the gaps in the Hogwarts' Wards, as well as the spells around Snape with anger.  The Death Eaters had made it so that, no matter how much blood he lost, or pain they inflicted, he would not pass out, or die.  Opening himself to the Council again, he quickly filled them in on what was going on.

**_You need to either break the web, or enter through it and take out as many as you can in their surprise,_**said Merlin immediately.  **_That's the only way for you to save the man._**

**_Unless of course you reveal your true power and simply blast the lot of them out of existence,_** added Godric.  **_With Voldemort looking in I wouldn't recommend that._**

**_Nonsense,_** countered Salazar.  **_Harry, you need not reveal your true potential.   Here's what you need to do_**__

Harry smiled at Lucius Malfoy.  He knew that only seconds had passed while he talked to the Council, thoughts moving a lot quicker than voices.  "Well, if that's how you want things to go Malfoy, I guess I'll have to play by your rules," he said, taking a step closer to the shimmering barrier.  As soon as he took a step, Ginny cried out a frightened cry but, for once, Harry ignored her.  As the group watched, the young wizard calmly walked through the barrier, as if nothing had happened.  They were all so shocked that they could not even move to stop Harry.

Lucius Malfoy was utterly shocked for a moment, and then cried out, "GET HIM!  When none of his Death Eaters moved, he added, "He can't do magic within the barriers you fools, he's helpless, GET HIM!  At his words, the Death Eaters all raised their wands and pointed them at Harry.  Several curses were shot at the young man, who dodged them easily.  This went on for several minutes, as the audience gasped and screamed in fright and awe as the battle continued.  Harry had not used a single spell that anyone could see, but had somehow managed to take out twenty Death Eaters in the melee.  Finally, however, Harry pulled out his wand and attempted a spell.  The Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix members alike were shocked as Harry's spell worked, sending an additional ten Death eaters to the ground, stunned.  Everyone paused in surprise, and that was all the time Harry needed.  He quickly and methodically stunned, or otherwise took care of the rest of the Death Eaters, except for Malfoy, who was standing stock still, staring at Harry with eyes large with horror.

"HowÉ How did youÉThat was" he sputtered as Harry STALKED towards him, it could not be mistaken as anything but the walk of a predator, as he was about to pounce on his helpless prey.

 "If you incapacitate enough casters of a Sorcerer's Web, the web dissolves slowly," Harry said answering the unvoiced question.  "Didn't you know?" asked Harry in a too casual voice.  When Lucius dumbly shook his head Harry sighed exaggeratingly.

"Careless of you Lucius," he said, stopping in front of the man.  "I thought you would at least RESEARCH the method that you were going to use to Ôsafeguard yourself against my newfound strength.  Harry looked around the room, then carelessly commented, "Doesn't seem to have worked.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" screamed Malfoy suddenly, a green light shooting out of his wand towards the young man.  Harry calmly stood there as he watched the light come closer and closer towards him, ignoring the screams of fright behind him.  Then, they cut off as Harry did the impossible and CAUGHT the killing curse in his hand.  As soon as the curse hit his hand, the light stopped coming from Malfoy's wand, and collected into a bright green ball in Harry's hand.  As the amazed witches and wizards all watched, the ball seemed to freeze, becoming somewhat solid, then Harry carelessly tossed the spell back at Malfoy, making it surround him, not quite touching the adult's skin.

"If you so much as touch the light Malfoy, you will die," Harry informed him in a harsh voice, making the wizard freeze.  "Except your death will not be quick, it will be extremely painful, and long.  You will be begging me for the Cruciatus Curse before you die, and the spell will NOT let you retreat into insanity.  YOU WILL FEEL EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF YOUR DEATH AND IT WILL MAKE YOU WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN.

Harry, then turned his back on the man, and approached the table.  With one wave of his wand, Snape's bonds disappeared, and then Harry methodically closed all the wounds on the man before releasing the spells around him, as well as adding a few spells of his own to keep him awake, and quickly recreate the blood that the man had lost.  He then seemed to draw into himself once again for a second, then a goblet appeared in his outstretched hand, and he lifted the tortured man's head and made him drink it.

As soon as Snape finished the potion, he sat up, completely fine, with a look of wonder on his face.  Harry smiled at him briefly, and then turned to the group of people still standing right by the doorway.

"Sorry I scared you all so much," he said.  "I couldn't let you know what I was planning without also tipping off the Death Eaters.  He noticed Ginny trembling slightly and smiled at her.  "If it makes you feel any better, if I had gotten into trouble, I could have blasted the Web out of existence at any time.

"WELL WHY DIDN'T YOU DO THAT?" asked Ron, yelling as his shot nerves got the better of him.

"Because he did not want to alert Lord Voldemort as to his true power," Snape answered, surprising everyone.  "Harry probably noticed the added spells around each and every Death Eater that allowed the Dark Lord to see and hear what they did.  I can only assume that that greenÉ thing that he created cut of Lucius' connection to Voldemort," he added with a questioning look at Harry, who nodded.

"Are you feeling alright, Severus?" asked Professor McGonagall, sounding quite worried for the younger wizard.  "I'm all right Minerva," he answered.  "That potion that Harry gave me did wonders, may I ask how you got it so quickly?

"Morgana sent it to me," he replied, not taking his eyes off Ginny who still had not reacted and was still trembling slightly.  "It's her own creation, and she has a large supply of it just in case it's ever needed by the Council, so I didn't bother making any once I left.

Finally, Ginny seemed to come to herself a little and asked Harry shakily.  "Is this how the rest of our lives is going to be: you running headlong into dangerous situations, while I stand by shocked and worried, not able to do anything to help the man I love?

Harry sighed, his heart breaking at the anguished tone in his fiancŽ's voice, and opened his arms, and Ginny literally flew into them, sobbing against his chest.  "ShhÉ It's alright, love," he comforted her.  "I will never, ever do anything like that again without you beside me," he told her, wiping her tears away with his thumb gently, "I promise.

Ginny smiled up at him, still shaking, but tears no longer flowing from her eyes.  "Oh Harry I just love you so much, and whenever you do the brave things that you do, I can't help but feel helpless, as if I'm going to lose you and I can't do anything about it.

"I know, Gin, I know," he said, ignoring everyone else in the room.  "Don't worry it'll never happen again.

A snort from behind them broke Harry and Ginny's embrace, as Malfoy made his presence known again.  "Fat luck with that, Potter," he sneered, not moving an inch except for his mouth.  "As long as the Dark Lord is around, you're going to be in danger.  You can take out as many of us as you wish, but Lord Voldemort will triumph against you in the end!  The man's eyes had a maniacal looking gleam in them, and Harry raised his wand again, and stunned him, the green spell dissipating literally nanoseconds before Harry's stunning spell hit the Dark Wizard.  The Death Eater literally flew backwards into the wall, obviously breaking several bones in the process.

"That was for putting Ginny in danger four years ago," he informed the unconscious Death Eater softly.  He then turned to Dumbledore.  "Headmaster, there are several gaps in the Hogwarts' Wards, caused by magical Drills.  The Death Eaters have been sending them to their children, who set them up all around the castle, which was how the Death Eaters got here.  They slipped between the gaps in the Anti-Apparition Ward.

Dumbledore looked surprised for a moment, and then asked, "Drills you say?  What are they exactly?

"Well I call them drills.  Drill is a Muggle term.  My Uncle owns a company that makes drills, and that is what these things do: they drill through Wards." replied Harry, slipping an arm around Ginny's waist again.  "They are special Ward breaking talismans.  They are powered by a large amount of Dark Magic, and are very hard to detect until they are finished.  With all the Dark activity going on in the castle, not even I could pick them up from everything else.

Dumbledore did not seem surprised to hear that there was OTHER dark activity going on, confirming Harry's assumption that Dumbledore was up to something, but not knowing what.  "So in your opinion, are the students still at risk?" he asked.  When Harry nodded grimly, Dumbledore immediately turned to McGonagall.  "Minerva, have all the students immediately make their way to the Great Hall, each of you," this to Remus, Flitwick, and Matilda, "escorting them.  Once the students and the rest of the Staff are in the Great Hall, close and seal the doors immediately and station two Professors at each door with instructions to stun anyone who enters, including myself and Mr. Potter.  If we are the ones who enter, we can always be revived.  He then looked at the other Prefects standing beside him.  "You lot should go with them," then seeing that they were about to protest added, "the other students will be scared and confused and I need you to all calm them down.  Also having all of you there safe guards the rest of the students even more.

"Watch out for any known Death Eater's child," Harry added to them all.  "They undoubtedly knew about this attack, and might try and retaliate if they think the attack has failed." He then held out his hand and concentrated.  Several chains with crystals on them appeared in his hand.  They slowly floated in front of the Teachers and Prefects.  "Put those on, they are protective talismans, and will protect you against anything that can be thrown at you, including the Unforgivable Curses.  They only last a few hours, but that should give us enough time to take care of the gaps in the Wards," They each put one on, including Snape, then left on their missions.

"Severus, I want you to watch over these unconscious Death Eaters," Dumbledore informed him, handing him back his wand from where it had dropped on the floor.  "I'm sure that they will be quite peaceful after what Mr. Potter did to them, but just in case, I want someone here, until Alastor and the rest of the Order's Aurors can get here.  I've already notified them and they are on their way.  Snape nodded in understanding and propped himself on the table that he had been bound to, making sure he had a clear shot at each and every Death Eater on the floor.  If they so much as twitched, he would be able to see and react before they had a chance to rise.

Harry, Ginny, and Dumbledore made a thorough sweep of the school, finding all the Drills.  Since they were alone, Harry pulled out his Staff, and released his true power.  Once they had gathered all the talismans and Harry had wove spells around them, nullifying them, Dumbledore spoke his mind.

"Harry, with holes in the Wards, we are going to have to close the school," he said, regret filling his voice.  "If I cannot guarantee the safety of the students, then it would be irresponsible of me to continue on here as if nothing has happened.

"Don't worry Professor," replied Harry, as he waved his glowing Staff above the last of the talismans that Ginny was holding in one of her hands, before she put it in a large sack with the rest of them.  There had been exactly fifty, meaning that the Death Eaters had all each used their own special Apparition point.  In each place, Harry put protective spells around the place where the a person would be able to Apparate in, making sure that, in the case that someone utilized the gaps in the wards, they would be struck unconscious immediately and encased in a magical prison, as well as alerting both Dumbledore and Harry to their presence.  "I've been thinking about it, and I think that I can put up new Wards over the old ones, then destroy the old Wards completely.  In fact, the new Wards will probably make Hogwarts much safer.  I can weave an Anti-Drill charm into the Wards themselves, making it impossible to enter through the Wards with them, no matter who or what is carrying them.  Drills are only dangerous on the inside of Wards, not the outside.

Dumbledore thought about this for several moments, then asked, "How much time would you need to complete a Working of that magnitude?

"I could probably have it done by the end of the night," Harry answered, as they made their way to check on the Death Eaters.  They had run into Moody and the Aurors already.  When they got there, they saw that the Aurors had all taken care of the Death Eaters, and Moody and Snape were the only ones left in the room, talking quietly between themselves.

"Ah Albus, good," said Moody as he caught sight of the three.  "Severus and I started talking while my boys took Potter's latest victims to the Ministry for processing.  Oh by the way Potter, the other ones that you captured have all been executed as per your suggestion, and these others will probably get the same sentence.  I don't even want to know what you did to poor Malfoy, though.  He was half dead when we got here, and if we didn't have a competent healer in the group, he would have died.

"What were you discussing?" asked Dumbledore.

"We were trying to come up with some way to give Harry as well as Ginny here, free run of the school at all times, like the Staff Members have," replied Snape, surprising both students.  "It is perfectly clear that Harry is now the best defense we have against the Dark Lord's attacks, andÉ wellÉ in light of my attack, I think it would be a good idea if they were able to react without fear of punishment, not that that is really a problem for these two.  Snape smiled down at the young couple, surprising them both.  "Oh by the way Potter, since I'm still a residing member of the Staff, even though I'm not teaching currently, I am hereby awarding you five hundred points for saving my life, as well as the stunning display of dueling you exhibited.  Furthermore, I am officially asking the Headmaster to bring you on as an unofficial Staff Member and have you start teaching a dueling class, which will be open to all students who wish to better defend themselves.

Harry and Ginny were both stunned at this, and they looked at Dumbledore, who was smiling at them.  "Well Harry, Remus has informed me about your wish to reinstate the Dueling club.  I can think of no better person to instruct the students of how to protect themselves than you, your Highness," he said bowing, reminding everyone of Harry's formal title.

Harry looked at Ginny, who stared back for a moment, then nodded.  "I'll accept on one condition," he said, looking from Dumbledore, to Moody, and finally at Snape.  "I'll accept as long as I'm able to attend classes and eat at the Gryffindor House table just like any other student.

Dumbledore thought about this for a second then nodded, "Then it is agreed, welcome to the Hogwarts' Staff Harry," he said with his customary twinkle coming back in his eyes.  "Come why don't we all go up to the Great Hall to check on the students and teachers, then you can start on the Wards.

As they walked, Dumbledore quickly filled Snape and Moody in about what happened after they left.  As they got closer to the Great Hall, they all heard McGonagall bellowing angrily.  Harry stopped everyone, right before they were about to go inside, and let go of his Staff, which disappeared, and then took the bag from Ginny, who was struggling slightly to keep it up.  He then whispered a spell over them all and opened the door.  Immediately several stunning spells hit the group, which dissipated off of the shield that Harry had erected around the group, Seeing who it was, Professor Flitwick as well as several former members of the D.A. sighed in relief.  McGonagall was still yelling at a group of students.

"Minerva, what is going on here?" asked Dumbledore, as he saw the students all clustered together in little groups.   McGonagall turned at Dumbledore's voice, her face relaxing when she saw that they were all well.

"Albus, theseÉ theseÉtheseÉ MONSTERS tried to curse several of the students," she said.  "If it weren't for Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger here," she went on pointing to Ron and Hermione who were standing beside her, "then they could have seriously injured a lot of people.

Harry looked at the group of about ten students.  Draco Malfoy, Crabb, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstode were all a part of it.  He looked at all of their auras carefully, and then turned to Dumbledore.  "These must be the people who set up those talismans around the school Professor," he said, making sure not to show how much he knew about the Drills.  "I would bet my broomstick on it.

Dumbledore took in what Harry was truly telling him in silence, then turned to the group of students, who all shivered at the sudden cold look in his eyes.  "Minerva, you will take the wands from each of these students immediately," McGonagall quickly followed Dumbledore's order and soon ten wands were grasped in her hand.  "Severus, Remus, Matilda" Dumbledore went on, "if any of them so much as move their hands in the direction of their pockets, you are to stun them immediately.  At his words, the three professors pulled out their wands, and pointed them at the students, who now looked to be extremely frightened.

Dumbledore then turned to Ron and Hermione, the twinkle back in his eyes.  "Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, I am proud of you.  Not many people would have taken on ten wizards for the sake of others.  I am awarding the two of you two hundred points each for your bravery.

"We weren't the only ones Professor," said Ron.  "Blaise helped us," he gestured at the pretty blond Slytherine girl standing a bit apart from them.  "She stopped Malfoy and Goyle.

"Then two hundred points will be awarded to you as well Miss Zabini," said Dumbledore, smiling at the girl who grinned in response.  He then turned to Harry.  "Mr. Potter, are you ready to finish up around the school?" he asked vaguely, though Harry knew that he was talking about the Working he would be performing.

Harry nodded to him, then looked at Ginny, who had not left his side since after his battle with the Death Eaters.  He looked into her eyes, and made a decision.  "I want you to stay here Ginny," he said, and he silenced her with a finger to her lips when it looked as if she were about to speak.  "I don't know how long I'm going to take, and the more people protecting the students the better I'll feel, and the quicker I'll be able to get this done.  I'm NOT telling you to stay because I want to protect you while I go off and do something dangerous.  I seriously think that you will be more good here, than out there with me.  _I want you here, so you can report to me if anything else happens,_ he sent to her.  _You have a telepathic gift, and even though it's untrained, if you think towards me, I'll be able to hear you, I'll be listening for it._  Ginny considered him for a moment, looking into his eyes, then nodded silently.  Harry quickly kissed her and walked out of the Great Hall.

It was several hours later that a tired Harry reentered the Great Hall.  All the teachers were still awake, but Dumbledore had conjured sleeping bags for the students, and most of them were fast asleep.  Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Katie were all still awake, however.  All the members of the Order and the three prefects, as well as the Head Girl and Moody were all sitting at a table in the front of the Hall drinking steaming cups of coffee and tea.

Harry quietly made his way towards them and wearily sat down beside Ginny, smiling his thanks as she passed him a cup of hot tea, made just the way he liked it.  He sipped it for a few moments, before addressing the tired group.  "It's done," he said quietly.  "I've put up new Wards, and the old ones are gone.  I went ahead and weaved a keying spell for the Anti-Apparition ward, and keyed all of you, as well as the rest of the Order of the Phoenix to it, so you can all Apparate on Hogwarts' grounds now.  I've also added several Wards that were never there in the first place on the suggestion of the Four Founders: stuff that will take care of many of the dark creatures that Voldemort could send against us among other things," he informed them, taking another sip of his tea and slipping an arm around Ginny, who leaned tiredly on his shoulder.  "Anything happen here?" he asked.

"No," replied Remus tiredly.  "Everything was rather quiet.  Albus informed the students that the immediate threat to the school had been taken care of, thanks to you, and then told them all that they would have to sleep here for the night for their own safety as the school was secured.

"After a few hours of watching the tenÉ Monsters, as Minerva called them, we finally stunned them all so that we could rest for a while," added Snape.  "We decided to go ahead and let them sleep with the others.

"What are you going to do to them?" asked Ron softly.  "While we were waiting for Harry to come back, all of us have been so tense with worry that we haven't had a chance to talk about it.

"They are going to be expelled," Dumbledore informed them, his anger at the group of students still apparent, despite his tiredness.  "I will personally see that their wands are broken and they are gone from this school before classes start on Monday.  To knowingly endanger the entire student body as they have is unforgivable.

Everyone was silent at this pronouncement.  Ten students being expelled from Hogwarts was an unprecedented occurrence.  Then Harry sighed and changed the subject by asking, "Shouldn't we wake everyone up and send them to their dorms?

"Let them sleep," replied Remus.  "Once everyone wakes up, they can be sent back to the dormitory," then he yawned and added, "it's a good thing today is Saturday, because I think that as soon as everyone wakes up, we are all going to fall asleep on our feet.

Harry sipped his tea silently for a few minutes, and then put down his empty cup.  "Alastor, is that bounty still up for the Death Eaters?" he asked.

Moody grinned, and nodded at Harry, who then said.  "I don't want the rest of the Wizarding world knowing that I can take out fifty Death Eaters without help.  Is there any way that you can keep my identity a secret?

Moody thought about it for a few moments.  "Well, I can have the money brought directly to you," he said.  "As long as no one at Gringots knows that you've gotten five hundred million more galleons, no one should be the wiser.

Harry thought about this for a second, then asked, "Ron does Bill have enough pull at Gringots to be able to get into vaults without anyone else knowing?  And I mean ANYONE ELSE.  When Ron nodded, Harry looked towards the general direction of his room, and called out Hedwig's name quietly.  A few minutes later, Hedwig flew into the hall, carrying a blank piece of parchment and a quill in her claws.  Harry pulled a bottle of ink out of his robes, and quickly wrote a note to Bill Weasley, not letting anyone else read what he wrote, then sealed it and tied it to Hedwig's leg.  He whispered to his owl for a few moments, who hooted in response then flew away.  "Give my best to Archimedes," he called after her, making Ginny giggle, and everyone look at the two of them strangely.

"Archimedes is Merlin's owl," said Ginny when she noticed the looks.  "Hedwig and Archimedes hit it off quite well during the summer," and everyone smiled in amusement at Harry's words as well.  Ginny handed Harry his teacup back, again full of tea, and he thanked her as he sipped the hot liquid, which seemed to help clear his mind a bit.

"Albus, I'm worried about the moral of the school," he said finally.  When he had everyone's attention, he went on.  "It's only been a little over a week, and there have been two attacks on the school, and several other surprises for them.  Their nerves are probably worn extremely thin at the moment.  I mean, look at all of us, and we have been EXPECTING these types of things.  I think that we need to do something to get the students' minds off of what happened the past few days.

"Do you have any ideas, Harry?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"Yes," he replied.  "I think that we should seriously think about having a number of dances over the course of the year, and if we do, it should be announced fairly soon.

"How many dances are you thinking about Harry," asked Remus, sounding interested, even as Professor Dumbledore spoke.

"It would be impossible.  We are on an extremely tight budget right now.  The only reason why we were able to have the Yule Ball two years ago was because the Ministry was paying for it as a part of the Triwizard Tournament.

"What if I paid for everything?" asked Harry.  Everyone looked at him a bit shocked, and he added.  "Well I've got plenty of money, I could easily pay for a number of Balls without ever putting a dent in my bank account, especially after last night.  I feel partly responsible for the student's frayed nerves anyway.

"None of this was your fault," said Ginny quickly, causing Harry to look down at her with a loving smile.

"I know love, but I still feel a bit responsible, what with curing Remus and all, and I think it would be a big help.

Dumbledore thought about this for a few moments.  "What were you thinking?" he asked finally.

"Well I was thinking about having a simple Halloween Dance," Harry began.  "Nothing too fancy, maybe have a small group or band come in, and clear off a place for the students to dance along with the usual Halloween decorations.  I was also thinking about having two big balls:  another Yule ball, and maybe a Valentine's Ball as well.

After talking about it for a bit, everyone agreed.  Professor Dumbledore decided to make the announcement Monday morning at breakfast.  The talk turned to more general things until the students started waking up.  As soon as this happened, the tired Gryffindor prefects, along with Katie, went with the first wave of students going to the dormitories.  As soon as they were in their room, Harry and Ginny collapsed on their bed and fell into a deep sleep.


	16. The Dueling Class

A/N:

A special thanks goes out to Groundshaker for betaing this chapter for me on short notice.

I have been getting a lot of reviews about Remus' silver staff and his dress robes, that little plot point will be addressed in a later chapter.

I would like to thank all of my faithful reviewers for all the wonderful reviews I've been getting. I've been going through a huge bout of writer's block, which has been very annoying, and your reviews have helped keep my spirits up enough to continue trying. Hopefully I'll be able to update more regularly now that my muse has finally decided to make an appearance. Now… on with the show….

Chapter 16: The Dueling Class

Later that day, after Harry and Ginny, as well as the rest of the teachers and prefects who had stayed up the entire night, had finally gotten some sleep, there was a call for the Order of the Phoenix. Harry and Ginny were both soaking in their bath when they felt the phoenix tattoos on their arms tingled and they heard Dumbledore's voice politely ask all who could safely answer the call to Apparate to Hogwarts and meet him in the Chamber of the Phoenix within the hour. Harry and Ginny both sighed heavily, then got out of the bath, and quickly changed into clean robes and made their way out of their room, meeting Ron and Hermione on their way down the stairs. Together, they left the Commons Room. Harry quickly led them all to a picture of a phoenix in flight and touched it with his right hand. It glowed briefly and then disappeared, revealing the Chamber of the Phoenix.

Once they situated themselves in their seats, Harry looked around. All the professors looked to be refreshed. He leaned over to Remus. "What's this about," he asked. "What was so urgent that Dumbledore had to call an emergency meeting? Our next meeting isn't set for another few weeks."

"Dumbledore wanted to inform the Order about the attack, and the new Wards," Remus replied softly, so that only Harry could hear. "He's making it sound as if he and the other teachers have constructed them, not you. He is going to inform them that the Order members can Apparate on and off Hogwarts grounds. Again, he's not going to tell the whole truth to them, just enough for them to believe him, in case we have traitors in our midst."

"Traitors?" asked Ginny, hearing the last part. "Is that possible, I thought Dumbledore said…"

"Peter was a member of the Order," Remus reminded her, "as were your parents Harry. Peter was able to totally betray the Order, which is why Dumbledore is going to be vague, we can no longer guarantee that membership in the Order means that people are totally safe. The Inner Circle will, of course, be told the truth, well those that don't already know, namely the rest of your family Ginny. Oh, that reminds me, Albus wanted me to tell all of you that he wants to speak to the Inner Circle after the regular meeting. He says that we are to meet in the Staff dining room, where we will all be eating dinner together as we discuss everything."

Harry was about to ask Remus another question, but Dumbledore, obviously knowing somehow whom not to expect, rose and started talking. He quickly outlined the attack on Severus, and Harry's rescue, leaving out the part about the Sorcerer's Web. Since the entire Order of the Phoenix witnessed Harry taking out thirty Death Eaters with ease, they were able to believe that he could do the same to fifty without any problems. Dumbledore also talked about the discovery of the Drills, and the holes in the wards, and finally the new wards, and the students who were to be expelled.

When he finished, there were some questions, which he answered, and then everyone got up to leave. They could not Apparate directly to or from the Chamber of the Phoenix, because of the protective wards that the Founders placed around the room, but were able to leave out the door, and quickly Disapparated away to wherever they were going. Harry and Ginny led the other students away, as if they were going to the dorms, but then told them about the Inner Circle meeting and led them to Dumbledore's office. There, they met the Inner Circle, and over dinner, Dumbledore told them what had really happened.

On Monday at breakfast, Dumbledore announced that Hogwarts would be hosting three dances, a Halloween dance, a Yule Ball, and a Valentine's Day Ball. The students were delighted to hear this. Harry had been correct. Their nerves had been shot over the past week and a half, and this was the perfect thing to take their minds off what had happened. Dumbledore also made the announcement about the new Dueling class that would be taking place. He told the suddenly extremely interested students that the new class would take place on Monday's, Wednesday's, and Friday's at seven to nine o'clock after dinner in the new Dueling classroom located in the room at the end of the third floor corridor, the room where Harry, Ron, and Hermione had found Fluffy in their first year.

The next two days went by quickly. Harry had gone to numerous meetings with the Professors, discussing his new class, and making requests from the rest of the Staff. Ginny was not privy to these conversations, nor would Harry tell her anything about what they talked about. He was being very secretive. Harry spent all his free time between Monday morning and Wednesday night in his classroom, refusing to allow anyone else to enter. Many students tried, hoping to get a glimpse at what was going on, but none of them could break the locking charm on the large door which Harry had put up, just in case. Ginny secretly believed that Harry put an Enchanter Level or above charm on the door just in case.

Wednesday morning, and all throughout classes, people were talking excitedly about the new class that they would be attending that night. Dumbledore had told the students that it was open to all students, regardless of their age or year, and that the entire school would have to go to the first class, to decide if they wanted to attend or not.

Wednesday night, before dinner, Harry was extremely nervous. He did not go down to get anything to eat, but was instead in his newly constructed classroom, fretting over his first class. _I think this was a bad idea,_ he thought.

**_You'll do fine Harry_** said Morgana, hoping to reassure him.

**_Yeah, you've been teaching Ginny wonderfully,_** agreed Godric, **_Trust us, we were checking up on you from time to time._**

_Teaching Ginny in private and teaching the whole school are two totally different things_, Harry responded, still nervous.

**_There's no use worrying yourself sick over it,_** said Salazar. **_You've agreed to teach the class, and there's nothing you can do about it now._**

_So what SHOULD I do?_ Harry asked, running a hand through his long hair, which he was wearing loose for the night.

**_Why don't you try getting something to eat?_** suggested Rowena hopefully. **_You DO need to eat dear._**

_If I eat anything, I'll probably puke right now_, responded Harry, refusing to heed her suggestion.

**_Well then why don't you PRACTICE for once_** asked Thor gruffly. **_I didn't spend all that time with you, teaching you how to fight for you to forget it as soon as you left Avalon._**

_I haven't forgotten a thing, Thor,_ Harry replied, finally calm at the suggestion, which was of course Thor's intent.

**_Prove it,_** challenged Thor, and Harry did.

Ginny entered into the new Dueling classroom and stopped dead in the entranceway her mouth dropping open in surprise. Her eyes widened as she watched Harry. He had a staff in his hands, not his own but a plain wooden quarterstaff, and he was twirling it and moving with it expertly. As she watched him, her amazement grew each second. Harry jumped up, somehow using the staff to push himself even further off the ground. He then surprised here even more as he landed SIX FEET off the ground ON HIS STAFF. He stood there for a few moments, perfectly balanced and at ease facing away from her, then flipped off the staff, catching it in one hand as he fell, and landed upside down on one outstretched hand, facing her. Noticing that he had an audience for the first time, Harry easily flipped himself up again, and made his way to her.

"Hey," he said with a smile, not even breathing hard. "Why are you here so early?"

Ginny, snapping out of her surprised stupor, said, "I noticed that you weren't at dinner, so I brought you something to eat," she handed him a stack of sandwiches. When he didn't look as if he would take the food she had so thoughtfully brought him, she decided to take matters into her own hands. "Eat," she ordered. Harry immediately took the stack, selected one, and began eating it.

**_Why is it that when WE tell you to eat, you fight with us tooth and nail, but when SHE does it, you obey without question?_** asked an exasperated Rowena.

_Because Ginny can throw me out of bed if I argue_ Harry answered immediately, quickly eating his dinner. _YOU can't_.

Before Rowena could respond to THAT statement, the students started filing into the room. Ginny, kissing Harry on the cheek in silent support, she quickly made her way to a seat in the front.

Ron and Hermione made their way to the room that they had found Fluffy in that fateful night five years ago. They entered with the rest of the students and looked around, noticing the changes. Harry had obviously been working hard to make this classroom ready for his first class. It had been large before, but now it was huge, easily as large as the Great Hall. Besides magically enlarging the inside of the room, he also created a large semi circle of bleachers, that seemed to have been carved out of the wall with comfortable chairs on them in neat rows to one side of the room. The majority of the room was empty space, although one set of walls had been padded, obviously so that people could be thrown against them and not get hurt. Huge mirrors that reached from floor to ceiling, covering the stones, hiding them from view, had covered the opposite wall. In one corner were several dueling dummies, as they passed it, then noticed another door in between the entranceway and the bleachers, probably leading to Harry's new office; as a member of the Hogwarts' Staff even an member, he was now entitled to it.

"Please come in and quickly take your seats," Harry was calling out, and Ron and Hermione quickly sat beside Ginny on the front row. "The red colored seats in the front middle section have been reserved for staff members." Once everyone had taken their seats, a podium rose up out of the floor where Harry was standing, facing the semi-circle of students and teachers.

"Welcome to Dueling Class," started Harry. "Since most of you have either never had a dueling class, or, worse, had one with Gilderoy Lockheart," here he paused allowing the laughter to subside, "I thought we would start the class off with a bit of a demonstration. Professor Snape," he gestured to the pale man sitting in the first row in between Dumbledore and Flitwick, "Has kindly agreed to assist me."

Snape got up and silently walked towards Harry, who tapped the podium with his wand and made it sink back into the ground. As soon as Snape had reached Harry, the two of them turned so that they were facing each other and saluted. As Harry said, "Professor Snape and I are going to duel. First you salute with your wands, then bow to each other," here he bowed. "Now you turn and pace ten paces. I know this seems tedious, but you must 'pay attention to the niceties' as Lord Voldemort once told me," at that name, everyone suddenly focused on the two duelers, the idle chatter that had been breaking out around the room forgotten. "Now once you have paced, turn around and get ready for the duel to begin. Professor Dumbledore, if you would do the honors."

As soon as Dumbledore had spoken, even before he had finished the word, Snape fired off a curse, and Harry quickly sidestepped, evading it saying, "Remember to always dodge if you can. It conserves magical energy since you do not have to cast a shielding charm, and it keeps you just as safe." Evading several attacks, Harry was still speaking, as if nothing were happening, "Always keep moving, it makes it harder for you to be hit, and forces your opponent to react to YOU instead of the other way around."

This went on for a long time with Harry lecturing nonstop as he and Snape dueled to the amazement of everyone present. Harry somehow kept everyone on the edge of his or her seat, hanging on his every word, as if mesmerized.

Finally, the duel ended with Snape stopping, lowering his wand, then bringing both hands to the opposite shoulder and bowing in graceful defeat as Harry said, "The most important thing that you must know is your limitations. If you find yourself outclassed in a formal duel, then admitting defeat is better than ending up in the hospital, or worse, being killed." Harry and Snape returned to their places before the amazed audience, bowed to each other again in mutual signs of respect, and Snape took his seat while Harry called forth the podium again and leaned on it casually.

"Now that you have SEEN what this class is about," he said, noticing for the first time that everyone was hanging on his every word, "Lets talk about the rules of the class, yes that's right RULES. Outside of this room, I am one of the students, a Gryffindor sixth year, a prefect, but INSIDE I am a member of the Hogwarts' Staff, and I expect for all my students to treat me with the respect that the position warrants."

Harry looked around to make sure he still had everyone's attention, and then went on. "My FIRST rule is mutual respect. I will respect you, as long as you respect me. This includes raising your hand when you have a question or a problem, and WAITING for me to call on you. I will not have idle chatter about the goings on around the school during my class time. If you want to talk about something other than the topic at hand, then you may leave. My Second rule is that under NO circumstances WHATSOEVER are you to do any of the things that I am going to be teaching you outside of this room. This class is designed so that you will be able to defend yourselves against Dark Wizards or FORMAL opponents AFTER graduating Hogwarts, should you need to. If I hear about anyone horseplaying around the school and breaking this rule, and I will if it happens, then there will be SEVERE consequences for BOTH people involved, whether or not you are an innocent victim. IS that understood?" Here Harry paused, and when the crowd finally all nodded to him, he went on. "MY third and final rule is the most important. If you break this rule, you will immediately fail my class." Everyone's eyes widened in shocked horror.

"Under NO CIRCUMSTANCE WHATSOEVER are you to EVER…" here he paused dramatically, waiting till he had everyone's attention, "call me Professor, Professor Potter, or anything ELSE with the word Professor tacked onto it." Laughter broke out around the room, breaking the uneasy silence as Harry outlined his rules to them. "And If I ever hear ANYONE call me the 'Boy Who Lived,' or 'Famous Harry Potter,' inside or outside of class regardless of who you are, you will find yourself facing me in a one on one duel, and I will not be pulling my punches like I did against Professor Snape." Here everyone paused, looking at each other silently as they took in the meaning of his words, then one bold Hufflepuff second year raised a hand, and Harry pointed at him, "Yes, you have a question?"

"Yes… if we aren't supposed to call you P-Pro- that word, then what are we supposed to call you?" he asked.

"Harry, Hey Harry, Hey you, you can take your pick," answered Harry with a grin. "You see I hate titles with a passion, probably a side effect of having been the most famous wizard alive since before I can remember," he added in explanation, earning another round of light laughter.

Hermione raised her hand, and Harry pointed at her. "Yes Miss Granger?" he asked, even though he knew what her question would be.

"Are you going to be grading us in this class Harry?" she asked, "And if so, how?"

"I will indeed be grading you in this class," Harry responded with a smile. "Most of your grade will be based off of effort, NOT whether or not you perform perfectly. You will also receive points for showing up on time, and not missing any of the classes. The rest of your grading will be decided based off a combination of written and practical tests, which I will be giving throughout the year. But don't worry," he added, seeing the nervous looks at the thought that they would be tested, "There will be lots of opportunities for extra credit to boost your grade if you need to, not that I expect that that will be a problem. Any other question?" he asked.

After a moment, a Ravenclaw fourth year raised his hand, and Harry called on him. "What sort of… disciplinary actions will you be using to enforce your rules?" he asked a bit too casually.

"I was waiting for someone to ask that," said Harry with a disturbingly feral grin on his face. "In most cases, I am going to refrain from taking House points, since students that will be breaking my rules will obviously care more about themselves than they do about the others around them. Instead, I will make you HURT. First offense will be exercising for the remainder of class. Second offense will have you serving a detention with me, which will make scrubbing the dungeons feel like HEAVEN in comparison. Third offense and you will find yourself replacing my practice dummies as the rest of the class throws curses at you repeatedly, and you will NOT be able to dodge those curses. You do NOT want that to happen, since you will spend at LEAST a night in the hospital wing. If we have any fourth offenders, then I will personally put them in the Hospital Wing for a month. They will NOT be excused from classes, however, and as soon as they are back to normal, will be expected to hand in all the work that they have missed to all their teachers and be caught up to the rest of the class. If anyone is stupid enough to attempt a fifth attempt, then they will be put in the Hospital Wing for the REST OF THE SEMESTER and dropped from the class. I've already talked to the rest of the Staff about this, and they have agreed with my decisions in this matter."

Harry had been talking directly to the Ravenclaw student, who had slowly lost all the color in his face as he listened to Harry outline his punishments. "But," Harry added after he had let this sink in. "No one need go through with any of that. All you have to do is follow my rules, and you will find me a quite pleasant person." This seemed to make the students relax a bit; also insuring that Harry would have no problems in his classroom. "Any other questions?" he asked. " NO? OK then, I'll go ahead and dismiss you all early, hope to see you on Friday, class dismissed."

Harry watched as the students silently filed out of his classroom, his heart falling. He had been sure that his first class would be a success, but the way everyone was leaving, not talking, not looking around, he knew that he had been awful. He would be lucky if he even HAD a class on Friday. Harry turned his gaze to his friends as well as Matilda,

Remus, Dumbledore, McGonagall and Snape who were still sitting in their seats: they had all agreed to stay after and give their impressions about his first class. As soon as the door closed on the last students and staff members leaving Harry looked at them nervously and asked, "So? How'd I do?"

Ginny surprised him by bolting out of her chair and enveloping him in a tight hug. "Oh Harry, you were ABSLOUTELY WONDERFUL!" she said pride and admiration apparent in her voice.

"Really?" he asked still not sure. "I mean… everyone was quiet when they left, I thought they didn't like-," but Ron broke in.

"Harry you dope, everyone was quiet because they were all struck speechless by your stellar performance. You had us all hanging on your every word. You were perfect," he informed his best friend.

Harry looked around, finally hugging Ginny back. Everyone was nodding to him with a smile on his or her face.

"I believe that you have been holding out on us Harry," said Minerva. "You're a natural teacher, you have a way of capturing an audience that most teachers NEVER achieve."

"Yes, Harry, I must say that you are probably the best teacher that we HAVE on Staff," Dumbledore informed him with a smile. "You're definitely better than those of us here." Remus and Matilda both nodded in agreement, still dumbstruck at Harry's first class.

"I agree Harry," Hermione broke in. "Even though I didn't take any notes in this class I KNOW that I will never be able to forget what you taught us tonight." Ron and Ginny both voiced their agreement to that statement.

Finally, Snape said, "Harry your dueling form is perfect. There is no flaw, no weakness at all. I'm an International Grand Master in Dueling, one of the top ten duelers in the world, and I couldn't even TOUCH YOU," he sounded a bit put off.

"Don't beat yourself up too much Severus," Harry said gently. "Most of the Council of Arch-mages can't touch me either, so you're in good company." At those words, Snape did cheer up a bit.

"How long did it take to make this room?" asked a curious Remus. "It looks wonderful."

"Not long actually," said Harry. What actually took the most time was figuring out how I wanted the room. I came up with and tried out all sorts of different rooms, but I think I've found what I was looking for."

"Are all your classes going to be like THAT?" asked Matilda finally speaking. Even though she had finally found her voice, Harry's godmother was still shocked at Harry's performance, and was looking at him in outright wonder.

Harry grinned mysteriously at her. "Come and find out," he said, not answering her question and leaving them all in suspense.

Harry's class was soon the most popular class in the school. When Harry entered the Great Hall the next morning, the entire student body stood and gave him a standing ovation in response to his class the previous night. Throughout that day and the next, practically every student in the school came up to him and assured him that they would be attending his class. On Friday, Harry began teaching in detail the rules, and customs of dueling, somehow keeping everyone's attention glued to him the entire time. He was able to answer all questions, and somehow was able to address each student individually, making sure they understood what he was telling them, and if they did not, he somehow knew the exact thing to say for them to REACH that understanding.

Soon people were coming up to him outside of class, asking him to explain something or another for OTHER classes. After the fiftieth or so time this happened, Harry went to Dumbledore and received permission to organize a study session for the rest of the school. He informed the school that he would be free for help in any subject, in any year, during the last elective period before dinner each day, Harry had dropped Divination since he was now teaching a class, much to his enjoyment. He also declared that he would be available in his classroom from seven to nine on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as all afternoon on Sundays for those students that wished help in their classes.

Harry and Ginny were soon tutoring the entire school. Everyone at school turned up for his sessions on Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday and many of the students turned up during the elective periods as well. Seeing how much they worked, the teachers decided to not assign homework to both Harry and Ginny, who was helping Harry tutor the sixth years and below.

The Staff was happy to help the young couple out, since grades in the school were at an all time high. Ron had been indignant when he heard that Harry and Ginny did not have to turn in homework anymore, but quickly calmed when Hermione pointed out that, between tutoring and dueling classes (which Ginny was also assisting Harry with), the two of them did more work than any student does for homework each week.

Harry and Ginny now attended the daily Staff Meetings, which were held at nine thirty at night, allowing the two of them a half hour to wind down and relax after their tutoring sessions, or Harry's class. They were currently present in one such meeting, and the Staff was discussing the student's progress in recent weeks.

"It's been a month and already we've noticed the difference in the students," Professor McGonagall was saying. "They're all working extremely hard, and I can't seem to find much to fault them with at all."

"I agree," said Remus. "In fact, I think that the students deserve a bit of a reward."

"I think so too," piped in Harry, making the staff look at Harry and Ginny, who were curled up comfortably in a chair together. They had just finished Harry's Wednesday Dueling Class. "I think I have the perfect idea for their reward."

"Oh?" said Dumbledore. "What do you have in mind, Harry?"

"Well, next weekend is supposed to be the first Hogsmead weekend isn't it?" he asked. When Dumbledore nodded, he went on. "Well, why don't you make the Halloween Dance a costume ball, and have another Hogsmead weekend the weekend before the Dance? That way, students will be able to look around this weekend, and decide what they want to be and be able to purchase their costumes right before the Ball."

Everyone seemed to like this idea, and the staff quickly decided that this plan would be put into action. They discussed some other things, like decorations and what not, finally Matilda and Remus were charged with handling it, and simply handing Harry the bill for everything. Finally, Dumbledore brought up the real reason why they were there.

"Harry, the rest of the staff and I have been talking, and we wish to make you and Ginny full, official members of the Hogwarts' staff," he informed the two stunned teenagers. "This will mean that you the two of you will be paid like the rest of us, as well as HAVE quarters in the Staff section of the school, although if you two wish to remain where you are during the remainder of the school year that is completely understandable."

"You'll be able to attend, or NOT attend whichever classes you wish, which will give the two of you more freedom," added Remus. "Hell, you two can TEACH most of the classes, anyway, so we don't see the reason wasting your time keeping you cooped up in class all the time when you already know what we are going to 'teach' you."

"The two of you will also be able to 'officially' remain here at Hogwarts during the summer Holiday," McGonagall informed them, making it clear that she meant that they could use this as a cover to go to Avalon without anyone knowing. Since others were in the room that did not know the whole truth about Harry and Ginny, she did not go right out and say it. "You two as well as anyone ELSE you wish to invite."

"What's the catch?" asked Harry finally, liking the sound of what he was hearing, but knowing that it was be too good to be true.

"The public will know," replied Snape immediately. "Once we make you two official members, the press will find out, probably within the hour."

Harry looked at Ginny, who shrugged and said softly to him, "I'll agree to go along with whatever you decide." _You do the most work anyway love, so it should be your decision._

Harry looked around the room, making his decision. "We'll do it," he informed them, and everyone began to smile at him.

"Wonderful," said Dumbledore, his twinkle going onto overdrive. "We'll make the announcement at the Halloween Ball."


End file.
